


We Are Golden (Or: Alien Puberty Fucking Sucks)

by Seven Stars (Sewingrose)



Series: It's Been Written in the Stars [1]
Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Culture, Angst, Angst and Humor, Background Poly, Caliginous Romance | Kismesis, Closer to Super and OG Dragon Ball levels of humor, Dragon Ball Road Trip, Epic levels of miscommunication, Families of Choice, Humor, Idiots in Love, Ignores GT, Less fighting more domestic shenanigans, Let’s all bully Raditz!, M/M, Marron becomes a Godtuber, Mermaid Takoyaki Stand, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, No actual mpreg, Pregnancy Scares, Puberty is terrible, Raditz was not prepared for any of this, Recreational Drug Use, Saiyan Culture, Saiyan Puberty is worst then most, Saiyans in a Planetarium, Set at the End of Z, Super Saiyan fights, Vegeta is a good dad, alien puberty, just dumb teenagers being dumb, lots and lots of banter, well he’s trying to be at least, with some DBZA mixed in
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-02-01 03:37:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 109,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21360619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sewingrose/pseuds/Seven%20Stars
Summary: It’s Summer Vacation after their last year in High School and Trunks and Goten are ready to cut loose and have a fun summer filled with lazing around, hanging out with their friends, and of course fighting.But nothing can ever be that simple for them, can it? No, of course not! This is Dragon Ball!Featuring: A Dragon Ball Hunt, Vegeta’s refusal to open up about his emotions backfiring on him, Raditz being wished back and then constantly bullied, Marron discovering Godtube, and much more!All the while Goten and Trunks are coming to terms with their Saiyan nature, their Earthling nature, and what exactly are they in relation to one another.But hey, no one every said that life and true love was going to be easy.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Son Goku/Vegeta (Dragon Ball), Trunks Briefs & Son Goten & Marron, Trunks Briefs/Son Goten
Series: It's Been Written in the Stars [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1641733
Comments: 64
Kudos: 119





	1. 'Cause They Couldn't Find A Word For Our Kind Of Insane

**Author's Note:**

> So this is sort of a sequel to a long Vegeta POV fic I’m working on where Saiyans have a version of Kismesis from Homestuck. I’m still working on that fic but it’s a different beast and probably won’t be posted anytime soon. You will see an exploration of the differences between Red and Black romance later in this fic with regards to Goten and Trunks, but they are their own ball of confusion. 
> 
> Cliff notes! Basically, Saiyans have two forms of romance and two types of relationship they look for:
> 
> Red Romance/Mates: Our normal perception of romance, your lifemate who you want to settle down with, including having children and all that typical domestic nonsense. As seen with Goku/ChiChi and Vegeta/ Bulma. 
> 
> Black Romance/Kismesis: A hatemance/rivalry with benefits. It’s as deep and committed of a relationship as having a mate, and is sexual in nature. The one that you dedicate your life to being better than and the one you want to eventually be your death-mate, be it the two of you together against a foe or a fatal duel between them both. 
> 
> Using the canon setup that Saiyans maintaining their youth until their later years (around 80 years), at which point they age suddenly and severely, and inspired by some stuff from Dragon Ball Online about how Goku and Vegeta died. It’s the goal and norm of Saiyans to want to die in combat before that onset of age, and what better blaze of glory is there then to go out with your greatest rival? 
> 
> In that story, which I’ve nicknamed Saiyan Kismesis, Vegeta in an angry pining tsundere who develops a black crush on Goku during the whole Saiyan-Frieza sagas, but perceives Goku’s lack of reciprocation as rejection as opposed to Goku just being completely oblivious and having no perception of kismesis nor of how romance works unless someone explains it to his face. (So, you know, basically canon).
> 
> This goes on (and on and on) till Super era, where Vegeta finally admits his feelings for Goku, who once hearing this is an option is pretty into it. After an embarrassing talk with Bulma and ChiChi, they settle into an ethically non-monogamous relationship where they are allowed to be with their wives and their kismesis. 
> 
> The general reaction of friends and family ranges from “Oh so Vegeta’s Goku obsession has a name” to “Please don’t kiss each other where I can see”. This is all well established by the time this fic takes place and will mostly exist in the background, but will be addressed later. 
> 
> ~FOR THIS FIC
> 
> Time chart!  
This fic starts during Age 784 or End of Z, since we don’t know everyone’s birthdays I’m going off their birth years and if that involves some fudging a bit, oh well Toriyama is terrible with dates anyways. 
> 
> Trunks is 18, Goten is 17, Marron is 13, Pan is 5, Bulla is 4. 
> 
> Videl was born in Age 756 and Gohan in 757, but with the year in the time chamber during Cell they are both 28 in the current age. 
> 
> Vegeta was “born” Age 732, 52 years before the setting of this fic. However Saiyans are kept in the nursing capsules until they’re about 3 and I’m not even going to try to chart how much time he’s spent in that time chamber to figure out his “real” age right now. 
> 
> Bulma was born in 733, she is 51. (Has she been using the Dragon Balls to look younger? Maybe. Probably.)
> 
> Goku was “born” in 737, putting him at five years younger then Vegeta. But again, god knows what this man’s actual age is between the time chamber and the time he’s spent dead, though since he’s always had his body in Other World I’m going to count it with regular aging. 
> 
> Raditz was “born” the same year as Vegeta and when he died he was 31 years old, and unlike Goku he never kept his body. This may become important later. 
> 
> ~Changes from Dragon Ball canon  
Ignores GT entirely. Dragon Ball Super is here, I’m pulling from both the managa and anime depending on which I want at the moment. Very slight rewrite of End of Z, mainly ignoring the 5-year time skip and massaging the dialogue a bit. Dragon Ball Super Broly is canon. 
> 
> This fic is going to be a lot closer to Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Super levels of humor and character comedy, with numerous references to both, as opposed to fight-fight-fight times of Dragon Ball Z. 
> 
> Also Tarble surviving the destruction of planet Vegeta is stupid, and makes no sense in therms of timeline, but he’s mentioned in the Broly movie so I guess he’s kind of canon, but I’m having him still be in the incubation pod when the Planet was destroyed. He might show up in later stories, as a baby.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> EDIT 02/01/20: I have gone through and reedited the chapter to catch some small mistakes I had made previously. This is why I now have a beta reader.

##  **(Trunks)**

If Trunks had to describe his relationship with Goten in just a single sentence it would be this: it was complicated.

Now that wasn’t complicated in a negative sense exactly, but complicated like the twin engines on his favorite custom supersonic hoverbike was complicated. Consisting of thousands of separate moving parts that required precise precision to work properly, and when you heard a strange noise or saw an error light, you knew it meant doing a full days teardown and reassembly in his workshop, and hours upon hours of troubleshooting and tracking down just where the flaw in the design was, which honestly was one of Trunks’s favorite things to do on a long day.

Wait, where was he going with this? Oh right, him and Goten. See, much like Trunks’s precious hoverbike, his relationship with Goten was for some reason everyone else thought was incomprehensibly complicated to everyone else, but all Trunks could do was marvel at the elegance of its complexity.

And okay maybe this wasn’t the best analogy. Goten would probably complain about him making it all seem unnecessarily mechanical it for the sake of showing off to everyone who didn’t have Trunks’s genius level intellect. But it wasn’t like that! It was just how Trunks’s brain worked, and it wasn’t like Goten was wrong that he didn’t  _ need _ to explain it in such terms, it was just the first comparison that came to his mind when he tried to think of an analogy.

Because for all that the relationship between him and Goten seemed sometimes overly complicated, and it wasn’t  _ not  _ that, but to Trunks it was also spectacularly simple.

They were two parts of one whole. They were meant to work together, meant to be together.

Trunks was only 18 years old and he already knew who he was meant to spend the rest of his life with, which sounded ridiculous of course, but it wasn’t ridiculous to him because it was just a truth that he’d known for over a decade already.

If Trunks was feeling particularly sappy (or particularly drunk) he might even have used a different word entirely: Soulmates.

But that was not something Trunks was ever going to admit out loud or sober, because he could just imagine how everyone else would react to hearing it. Or hell how everyone else would even react to knowing they were “dating”, they kept that information on lock down, and with good fucking reason.

So if you asked Trunks what he would call Goten out loud, he’d have to go with “best friend”, because that’s what they’d agreed upon. Which was absolutely fine by Trunks, even if most people would think it was a little vague, because Trunks  _ knew _ that Goten felt the same things he did.

Goten had a whole speech he must have prepared about how superior “best friend” was to “boyfriend”, it was right there in the name “best” was clearly a superior modifier then “boy”. And it was also delightfully vague and obtuse to hide behind. Sort of like the word “partner” which was just as accurate in every sense of it but at the same time didn’t come close to encompassing everything about them.

Besides, there was something so very… juvenile about the word boyfriend, something that seemed to diminish what they were. And maybe Trunks had heard a few to many stories the “Dragon Gang” had told over alcohol of how they had all met, where his mom had first set off on the quest to find the Dragon Balls all in order to wish for a boyfriend. Which, had led her to meeting Goku and everyone else, but it wasn’t exactly a story Trunks liked hearing. 

(It was also one that made his Dad annoyed about and usually demand a spontaneous sparring match with Goku to get his jealousy out.)

Yes best was clearly better than boy. And even if no one else understood everything that was being said when they used the word, Trunks did. He knew Goten’s soul like he knew his own, a fact that was only made literal when they formed Gotenks. So he had no problem keeping the extend of their relationship a secret form everyone for the foreseeable future, they didn’t need anyone butting in like it was their business.

Something just for them.

~

“It’s over, oh god it’s finally over!” Calcula cried as surged out the doorway of their Calculus classroom and into the afternoon sun, before turning back to Trunks who followed her out. “No more cramming, no more studying, no more review, final exams are done!”

“Here, here.” Trunks laughed as she took to spinning in circles to express her joy, as they made their way to The Tree that they always hung out at, and sure enough they weren’t the first there. Stapular was on his phone, Goten was leaning against the tree in relaxation, while Inka was at work filling doodling over up and down his left arm.

Goten was the first to notice they were approaching, of course, he was far too tuned into Trunks’s ki-it would have been impossible for him not to. He opened his eyes and waved at them with the arm that wasn’t currently being monopolized by Inka and her pens. “Hey!”

“About time you two got out of the class,” Stapular called as he glanced up from his mobile game before immediately going back to it.“We’ve already been done with our history finals for the past 15 minutes already.”

“Now, we just have to wait for Krayron to get out of his Bio class,” Inka said pausing in her drawing while Calcula flung herself on the bench next to them. “You know what an ass Bookins is, always holding everyone to the last minute, because he hates that we have lives. Anyways, how was the Calc exam, Calc?”

“Har har, I can’t wait to hear that joke again,” Calclua said rolling her eyes dramatically and finally settled down enough that Inka went back to drawing, “Oh right, I don’t have to! Because it’s over! I did pretty good, only had a few that I’m worried about.”

“Oh stop it, you’re the top of the class, you did fine,” Trunks said, giving her a very gentle shove to make enough space for him at the end of the bench.

She shoved him back, harder, with enough force that had been a regular human it would have been enough to knock him off the bench, but for Trunks it was basically nothing. Still he had to fake some reaction to avoid seeming to suspicious, but it was worth it because his slight flinch seemed to infuriate Calcula even more.

“Oh shut up, I’m only the top of the class because you don't turn in your homework,” she hissed with a long simmering frustration. “You always get better scores than me on the tests.”

“Yeah but that’s only homework,” Trunks said with an exaggerated shrug just to see her scowl.

“I think going to burn all my Trig notes,” Stapular interrupted, as he put his phone down to look at the rest of the group. “Inka, you were as miserable in that class as I was. Want to join me in my ritual purifying bonfire?”

“Speak for yourself, my Trig notes have some of my best drawings I did this whole year.”

“No wonder you had such a hard time remembering the lessons,” Goten teased.

“I’m not going to need math when I become an artist,” Inka said, before finally removing her pen from Goten’s arm. “And done! Just like you wanted, one Eastern-Style Dragon!” Goten smiled and waved his arm around to get a look at the design that wrapped his way around his right arm.

“Oh hey, you got Shenron,” Trunks said, taking a closer look, “But he’s red and gold.”

Inka made a face, “Yeah Goten wanted him in green but I don’t have enough green to make it work. Also I’m calling him Fuzanglong after the Dragon of Hidden Treasures. Where did you get the Shenron name from anyway?”

“Just an old story we heard when we were kids,” Goten said, eager to change the subject. But thankfully an interruption arrived in the form of Krayron pirouetting over with his hands in the air yelling, “I’m free! I’m free!”

Krayron liked to announce his presence the same way he did anything, be it improv club or passing the ball on the field: flamboyantly.

“And now the gangs all here under our tree, but it’s for the last time, how tragic and sad,” Krayron faked a mournful tone

“Good riddance!” Calcula yelled and the rest of them joined in on her cheers.

“So Goten, how's it feel to be graduating a whole year earlier than you should have, skipping grades like you did,” Inka asked.

Goten rolled his eyes, “For the hundredth time, I never skipped a grade, it’s not my fault that my homeschooling already had me cover the material ahead of what I was supposed to.”

He didn’t say that it was probably a deliberate move on his mother’s part when they were younger. Trunks was confident it sprang from a conversation with Bulma in despair about Trunks’s lack of attention or focus on schoolwork, and how maybe if Goten was on the same curriculum it might even trigger their competitive nature and make them want to do well. Which if that was in fact the case it certainly worked, as they both enrolled at Sunrise School in West City for their last two years of secondary school together.

There they had met the group of weirdos they now called their friends. Call it a natural predilection towards freaks and deviants, but Trunks and Goten had found themselves fitting in with these outsiders much more than they did with the majority of their classmates.

Krayron was an outgoing guy who split his time between the soccer team and the acting club. He wanted to be an actor, but had a knack for sports that he was going to use to get him into a decent school. Calcula was the smart girl who annoyed her classmates with her overachieving status. Stapular was way too into video games and reciting nerd trivia. While Inka was the weird girl who drew too much.

“Yeah, yeah you’re still a year younger than the rest of us. So you’re the baby of the group,” Krayron proclaimed.

Goten rolled his eyes, “Well I guess someone needed to make sure Trunks didn’t ditch school every day to play in his workshop.”

“Well now I have all summer to spend time in my workshop with my projects,” Trunks said.

“Same but with my games and shows.” Stapular said.

“And my art!” Inka joined in. They all laughed.

Krayron was running his hands through his hair with his excess energy, “Well unlike you people who live indoors I’m going to be spending the summer at acting camp, before training for soccer starts up in July.” Then turning to glare at Goten and Trunks, he made sure to add, “I’m still salty you guys refused to join the team, we could have done even better in regionals with you guys on it. I know you two would have killed it on the team.”

“Sorry,” Goten shrugged. “The Satan Dojo requires a commitment to prioritize it over other all other forms of athletics.”

Years of hearing the stories about Gohan and his disaster of a high-school baseball game from Videl had told them it wasn’t worth the trouble dealing with Phys Ed at the school. And of course Hercule was all to willing to offer his “help”, and sign the paperwork and declare both Goten and Trunks students of his dojo, and get them an exception.

Never mind that they had never even visited the place or that they had both picked up more knowledge about martial arts around the house when they were kids then the entirety of the school’s courses available. It was a convenient excuse, and also got them out of requirements to participate in Phys Ed, which was a good time to get homework done. Well at least Goten’s homework while Trunks spent the time tinkering with whatever his gadget he’s smuggled in a capsule to gym class that day.

To Calcula’s eternal frustration for the past two years, Trunks refused to take any of their classes as seriously as she did. But it wasn’t like Trunks was worried about needing good grades to get into a decent college, with his mother’s name on the tuition checks, and his impressive scores, he’d be getting into whatever schools he wanted to attend.

But much to the disappointment of many a school recruiters, he only had one determining factor that would play into which college he picked, whichever one Goten was attending. His future was already secured, he would work at Capsule Corp. Whatever weird artsy school Goten wanted to go to work on drawing was fine with Trunks.

“So, have you finally got around to coming out to your parents so are you just going to let them make their inferences about the acting camp?” Inka changed the subject.

“Dude you still haven’t done it yet?” Trunks asked, genuinely surprise. Subtly was only something Krayron could do when he was playing a part, it did not come naturally to him.

“No, I’m waiting to till I officially move out for college,” Krayron shrugged before turning it into a glare directed at Trunks, “and you’re one to fucking talk, you haven’t told your parents that you’re bi. And they’re going to take it a lot better than my parents will.”

“I’m still say Trunks is just a mechaphile ,” Calcula said, “One of these days you’re going to introduce me to the sexbot you’ve built and are currently dating.”

“I’m not going to build a sexbot,” Trunks said, not for the first time.

Stapular laughed, “You call your hoverbike your girlfriend, dude, I think you’re already halfway there.”

“First of all, Baby is my platonic girlfriend, our relationship is pure and unsullied by the perversions you try to project on it. Second, I am not giving my mother any confirmation about my dating life until I’m absolutely forced to. She’s incapable of doing anything halfway, I tell her I’m bi she’ll host a pride event or some shit. I tell her I’m dating  _ anyone  _ she’ll start planning a wedding. Hell to the no.”

Also because telling his mom would mean outing Goten to everyone and Trunks didn’t want that any time soon, he liked keeping a secret just between the two of them, they hadn’t even told their friends yet. Speaking of which.

“What about you Goten, going to tell your parents that you’re gay?” Inka asked. Unlike Trunks who had been out for years to the group, Goten had only fessed up to Inka earlier this year after a disastrous incident where she’d tried to make a pass at him. Trunks still wasn’t completely sure if Goten was telling the truth to Inka when he said he was gay or if he was just embarrassed and wanted to turn her down as gently as he could.

They’d never talked about it directly, Goten got all flustered about topics like this, and Trunks hadn’t seen the need to press. Trunks knew for a fact that Goten was at least somewhat into guys, or more specifically, he knew that Goten was into  _ him _ , and that’s all that really mattered as far as Trunks was concerned.

“I don’t know, yeah someday I’m going to have to, but I really don’t want to have to explain it to my mom, I mean I think she’d get over it eventually, but she’d just be upset about the lack of grandchildren.” Goten scrunched up his face, “Also I remember how bad my mom was when my older brother started dating, no thank you.”

Trunks sighed, “Goten, ChiChi will be fine with you being gay, I mean she doesn’t have a problem with your dad being bi. Even if she kicks up a fuss at first, she’ll get over it.”

Krayon perked up, “Wait your dad’s bi? The full-time martial artist and sometimes farmer? I didn’t know that was allowed.”

“Yeah,” Goten shrugged, a blush starting to form, he hated any discussion about his parents sex life, with good reason. But then again, it would be unsportsmanlike to just leave an obvious counterattack lying there, and Goten turned to glare at Trunks. “Besides, so is yours.”

“Wait, what? Really?” Inka asked.

“Yeah, he comes from a place where it’s more normal, and mom knows and everything so that’s how I know they’ll both be fine with it.”

“What, where is that!” Krayron demanded to know. “Why haven’t you mentioned this before, I want to visit it now!”

“It’s a real remote place, you would have never heard of it,” Trunks answered quickly.

“I swear the more you guys talk about your families the more questions I have.” Calcula said, giving them both a shrewd look, studying them for signs of weakness

“You don’t know the half of it,” Trunks was so proud of his ability to keep a straight face, while Goten rolled his eyes.

“Okay enough about Trunks and Goten’s mysterious family lives, let’s talk about our plans for WaterWorld in a month!” Stapular said.

“Yeah, that’s the week after acting camp, so I’ll be able to make it.” Krayron said with a grin, “This is great, I’ve never been out to Yahhoi.”

“I’ve never been to a waterpark period,” Goten said.

“Well no time like the present Ten, I’m sure you’ll love it. WaterWorld was a lot of fun when I went with my folks,” Trunks said, not mentioning how his father had abandoned the trip half way through when he was just overwhelmed by the crowds. “It’s basically a resort with an attached waterpark. And I got a reservation for one of the villas for us all to stay at, it will be great!”

“As long as you’re paying for it,” Stapular laughed, “not like you can’t afford it.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll pick up the tab,” Trunks agreed. Being the son of the CEO of Capsule Corp came with some perks.

“Woo! This is going to be the best summer ever!” Inka cheered and the rest of them joined in.

~

Several days later and Trunks was heading out to Mount Pazou to hang out with Goten and get a training session in. They usually did it at Capsule Corp because of its better amenities, mainly the gravity chamber, for three sessions that lasted a few hours a week before Goten flew home in the evenings. On days they didn’t train or weren’t suffering under a mountain homework they usually ended up playing video games or watching dumb stuff online.

Vegeta only willingly relinquished possession of the gravity chamber to them because he knew arguing about it was liable to end up an official timeshare chart that would mean actually clocking how much time he spent in there. And that would only be used against him in future arguments.

He still griped about them not taking training seriously, because they weren’t pushing themselves for 12 hours straight 300x gravity, but that was its own ongoing standoff. Both Vegeta and Goku still had trouble accepting that their kids weren’t really that interested in attempting to achieve godhood.

He just liked having fun with Goten, and it just happened that training together was something they both enjoyed. They hadn’t even been fighting in all their more recent training sessions, Goten had taken up a bit of an interest in dance a couple months back and had abused his puppy-dog eyes and pout to convince Trunks to give up one of their three weekly sessions to just focus on that. Granted they still had to set the chamber to 50x gravity, which was apparently the bare minimum amount that Vegeta deemed “adequate” enough to keep from making disparaging comments about it.

Trunks knew his dad just wanted what was best for him, and really was trying to be a decent parent to him and Bulla, but he also knew it wasn’t easy for him.

He was flying out in his two-seat speeder, it had been his side chick project for when he felt like taking a break from working on Baby, it was actually a lot harder to get the bigger car up to the same speed as his bike. True, he could still fly faster then them both all on his own, but that wasn’t the point.

He landed at Mount Pazou, but he didn’t sense Goten around where he usually was. Huh. Oh well he did sense Gohan inside his house, so he went to go bother him.

“Hey Gohan, is Goten around?”

“Oh he’s off training in the hills with Dad.” Oh, poor Goten. “Vegeta and Bulma are out there too.”

“My parents?!”

Fuck, what were they both doing all the way out here? They always made Goku come to them, he was the one with Instant Transmission. And it wasn’t just his Dad flying out for a jaunt in the wilderness, Mom being here meant they had to take one of her planes, and that was a trip that must have taken hours! Something was up, what reason could they possibly have had to want to come all the way out to bother Goku about?

They weren’t here to try to talk to Goku and Chichi and figure out if he and Goten were not-dating where they? No, of course not, Trunks was being paranoid. But he also took off very quickly in their direction to make sure he could overhear as much of their talk as possible.

He touched down to see Goten exhausted on the ground and his parents ragging on Goku about the tournament tomorrow, and sounded like Goten was unhappy about it. Interesting.

“Oh, so you decided to join us.” Great his mom was in a mood, and taking it out on him.

“So Goten, I hear your entering the tournament tomorrow?” Trunks asked

“Yeah,” Goten was glaring at Trunks, undoubtedly sensing how amused he was at his current predicament.

“I don’t want to but Dad’s making me, plus I had a date tomorrow too.” That was a fun euphemism for Inka’s planned drawing stream that Goten was going to help mod. Goten had taken to calling them dates to get his parents to stop interrupting and accuse him of not doing anything. Trunks had no clue if Inka knew she was his pseudo-cover story.

And okay was that just Trunks’s imagination or was that an eye roll from his father? And Bulma looked skeptical too, or maybe she was just  _ that  _ annoyed at Goku and Trunks. Yeah, that was it.

“Quit whining, you can go on a date any day,” Goku said.

“Hah, looks like both all our sons have become slackers when it comes to training.” See, it was bullshit sniping like this that Trunks had to put up with.

Goku laughed, “Yeah… but at least that means the world’s at peace.”

Trunks sensed what felt like a small ball of ki approaching at a fast pace, and he looked up just in time to see Pan drop down and come running at them.

“Grandpa! I just flew around the world!” She was also incapable of not ending a sentence with a metaphorical exclamation mark attached.

“Great! I think that was your fastest time yet!”

“YAY! I’m getting better!” She looked around in surprise to see more people present then she was expecting, “Oh! Hiya everyone! You guys gonna come see me tomorrow?”

Trunks felt a feeling of dread creeping up his spine, “Is, uh, Pan going to be entering the Tournament too?”

“Yep yep!”

“What? But there’s no longer a kids division!” Bulma scolded, “You’re not going to let her fight with the grownups, Goku?!”

Vegeta scoffed,“Saiyan children were often sent to conquer planets, I hardly think a tournament is going to pose much of a challenge for the girl.”

“Yeah don’t worry, she’ll be fine,” Goku agreed, patting Pan on her head. “She probably won’t win, but she’ll do okay, she’s got the most moxie out of any of us.

That was… putting it mildly. Pan was enthusiasm incarnated in the form of an adorable girl who thought the “funnest” thing in the world was fighting. She had all that Saiyan enthusiasm for fighting that seemed to have skipped the rest of them.

“And you say there’s going to be an Earthling of potential that will attend… I think I will attend as well,” Vegeta said.

Oh good, that meant Trunks could have some peace and quiet and spend some quality time with his Side Chick, he’d really needed to get a look at her capacitors if he had any hope of getting her up to a serviceable-

“Which means that you will be participating as well Trunks!”

“What! But I have plans!”

“Well you’re going to be canceling them or your allowance is going to be cut in half.”

“WHAT!”

Goten, the absolute traitor, burst out laughing. “Oh no, looks like you’ll have to be there too.” He gave one of those smug grins he saved exclusively for when he thought Trunks was getting a rightful comeuppance. What a terrible best friend.

“It’s not even your money, it’s mom’s money.” Trunks was not above sulking. But he was ignored.

Bulma was instead focusing on the opportunity presented to her, “Well if all of you are going to be there, we might as well make a big day of it. I’ll call up the gang and see who can make it, oh we can even have a big dinner afterwards! I’ll call around and find a restaurant that will let us let us reserve the whole place, it’ll have to be one with a big kitchen, gods know we’ll need it with seven Saiyans.

“Oh and Trunks,” she broke her rambling to shoot her son a piercing glare, “You’re going to be flying back home with us, we’re going to be discussing the lack of schools you’ve been applying to.”

Fuck. His. Life.


	2. I Swear One Day I Will Beat You Fair And Square

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Din't put it in the notes for last chapter but the fic is titled after “We Are Golden” by Mika, first chapter gets its name from “Kinda Complicated” by Scott Helman, and this chapter gets it’s title form “Work This Body” by Walk the Moon. I have a soundtrack I’m working on for this fic that I’ll probably link at some point once I finalize it, until then enjoy chapter titles!
> 
> This chapter was betaed by good friend Zesparia, who is not a Dragon Ball fan but still has had to put up with many a ramble about my DB feels (especially about Goku and Vegeta), and probably knows more about the series then most casual fans by this point. I’m so sorry.

##  **(Trunks)**

Since West City was so much closer to the where the Budokai Tournament was taking place, the Son family had taken the Goku Instant Transmission Express to get them to Capsule Corp in the morning before they all took one of the large jets to the Tournament grounds.

The place was a lot more crowded and had more fanfare than Trunks recalled from the last time he’d gone. Both the place and the tournament had been built up in more recent years with Buu being a star of the ring. Between his playful demeanor and bizarre powers had made him a darling of the fans and a ratings juggernaut. But of course at the end of an incredible series of matches, he’d always somehow lose to the undefeated World Champion Hercule Satan.

As they walked into the grounds Trunks savored the short period of anonymity the large crowds granted them, most people weren’t even giving them a second look as they walked past the food stalls and the people hawking merchandise with Buu and Satan’s faces all over it. They were just another two families here to enjoy the day watching the tournament, nothing special or notable about them. Certainly not a group that contained nearly all of this universe’s entire population of an old alien race, and would be making up half the roster of the finalists all on their own.

Of course this illusion was broken when they finally heard a familiar voice.

“GOKU!” Krillin called out, and when they looked in the direction it came from there were a bunch of familiar faces. Oh wow, Trunks was surprised his mom was able to get such a good turnout on short notice, maybe everyone else just didn’t have anything better to do with their time. Krillin of course came with No 18 and Marron, but next to them was Roshi and Oolong, Yamcha and Puar. Piccolo was also here of course, but even Dende had taken the day off of being God of Earth to come watch their match.

“Hey guys! Goku called back as they walked over. “You’re all looking good. Nice to see you!”

Krillin’s wide smile dimmed slightly, “Don’t you start that again! Do you know how long it’s been since we last saw each other, it was over a year ago!”

“Oh yeah, sorry about that,” Goku said and dropped his arm he’d been waving to scratching the back of his head. “You know how it gets, sometimes I just sort of forget that we haven’t talked lately.”

Krillin sighed, “You know you’re lucky to have a best friend who is so understanding.”

Goku smiled, “Yeah, you really are the best Krillin.” Then he turned to look at the rest of the assembled faces, “Oh Piccolo, you entering?”

“Please, and put myself through that,” Piccolo scoffed. “I’m perfectly happy being a spectator today.”

Pan ran up and jumped at him to get her mandatory hug, “Will you watch me Uncle Piccolo!”

Piccolo caught her reflexively and once he saw her his stoicism melted like a marshmallow in the sun. “Of course Pan, I’ll be cheering for you.”

“We all will, I can’t wait to see what such a tiny whipper snapper like you is capable of,” Roshi said and Pan beamed at him.

“You guys might want to hustle, registration isn’t going to be open for much longer.” Yamcha warned.

“Oh yeah, we better hurry,” Goku said. Trunks was filled with the sudden desire to drag his feet on principal now.

Gohan crouched down to talk to his daughter, “Now Pan, make sure you always stay where someone can see you. Don’t go running off on your own now.”

Vegeta scoffed, “That’s hardly necessary, there isn’t anyone here who could pose an actual threat to her.” The “and if there is they won’t be alive much longer” went unsaid but Trunks could make it out easily, and so could Gohan.

“It’s not Pan I’m worried about being in danger, it’s everyone and everything else, she always has a way to find mischief wherever she goes, and that’s only if she’s not making it herself.”

Goten rolled his eyes, “Don’t worry Gohan, we’ll keep an eye on her and prevent her from destroying anything beyond her opponent’s dignity.”

“Thanks Goten. Alright have a good tournament everyone!”

~

The preliminaries were an absolute cake-walk, no surprises there. There were 114 participants this year, and they’d gone back to the preliminary matches which Goku said was the norm back in the days he fought in every tournament. Trunks had vague recollections of punch machines being used for the adult competition from when he was a kid, but for some reason they’d retired that practice. Thankfully the five of them and Buu were spread out across the brackets that none of them were going to face off till the actual tournament.

Trunks had finished up with his matches first when he saw he’d gotten a text from Calcula that she was waiting outside the Contestant’s Courtyard, and went to meet her.

“Trunks!” She yelled, and glared at the guard who was trying to keep her back. Trunks waved him off after reassuring him he wasn’t going to take off, just talk to a friend.

“What are you doing here?” He asked trying to not let the panic he was feeling slip into his voice. He didn’t want her seeing any fight that he had to be serious about.

“Well I _ was _ going to try to get seats for the Tournament, but you only told me yesterday you were fighting and people have been camping out for tickets for days.” Oh thank Dende. “So I guess I’m just going to be wishing you and Goten luck, where is he?”

“Still doing prelims, he was in the last bracket of them.”

“Well phooey, I’m going to be leaving soon, if I make it back home quick enough I can still catch Inka’s drawing stream. But I heard you guys brought your families with you, anyone you can introduce me too real quick?”

Trunks looked around, their families had already left the area, but out of the corner of his eye a familiar head of hair poked his head out of the doors he’d just walked through, probably looking to see where Trunks had gone.

“Well here’s one of them! Hey Goku! Get over here!”

Goku obliged and wandered over.

“Oh you must be Goten’s older brother, he’s talked a lot about you, and Pan is your little girl! I’ve seen pictures of her, she’s adorable!”

Goku laughed, “Nope, that’s Gohan, he’s my oldest son, I’m their dad, which makes Pan my granddaughter!”

“Really, you don’t look more than a few years older than Goten, and you have a granddaughter?” Calcula sounded suspicious, and not without good reason, Goku really didn’t look, or act, his age.

Goku of course picked up none of it, instead just laughing and scratching the back of his head, “Just good genes I guess.”

_ Please don’t say we’re aliens, _ Trunks prayed with a fervor he usually reserved for when he was trying to send messages to Dende. And hey maybe Dende was listening because two loud yells echoed through the courtyard at that moment.

“_ Kakarot!”“Dad!” _

“Oh gotta go, Pan’s last match is about to start.” Goku took off back into the building.

Just as he was leaving, Marron came walking over from the spectator’s side of the park. “Hey Trunks, you guys done cleaning out the prelims yet? Oh who's your friend?”

“Yeah Trunks, introduce me!” Calcula elbowed him.

“Marron this is Calcula, she’s a friend from school,” he punctuated the greeting with a pointed look to warn her not to say too much. “Calcula this is Marron, and old family friend.”

“Marron, if you’re a friend of the family then surely you know that man who was just talking to us, the one who went back into the building?” Before Marron could respond Calcula barreled on, eager to catch Trunk in his deception, “Was that actually Goten’s dad or was it his older brother trying to pull a prank on me?”

“Nope, I can confirm, that is the one and only Son Goku. And I would know, my dad has been best friends with him since they were kids. He really just is that youthful.”

“Oh, is your father a fighter too?”

“Retired now, but yeah. They actually attended the same martial arts school together when they were teenagers. And the first time my mom and Trunks’s dad met they fought. I’m told she broke his arms.” Marron had the exact same smile on her face and cheerful tone no matter what she was talking about, and she’d learned to weaponize it over the years.

Trunks sighed, “And you are never going to let that go, are you?” Marron hadn’t even be alive during the whole thing with Cell.

“Never.”

“Wow, you guys really are martial arts fanatics,” Calcula said. “I thought Goten was exaggerating a bit.”

Marron shrugged, “It’s kind of our group’s thing. I mean geez, Trunks does Goten even have any relatives that aren’t current or former martial artists?”

“Yeah,” Trunks said defensively and before he could think better of it.

“Oh yeah, who?” Marron challenged with a gleam in her eye and Trunks only just realized he’d walked into a trap.

“Uh.” Trunks said as he frantically rolled through his mental index. Goku and Gohan were obviously out. He knew ChiChi had helped train Goten when he was little and had even fought Goku in one of these tournaments, which oh no that was a train of thought for a different day. Hadn’t Ox-King trained under Kame school when he was younger, so had Goku’s Grandpa Gohan actually. Fuck, this was hard, Trunks was starting to panic as he stared down Calcula’s increasingly incredulous gaze and Marron’s growing grin. Videl? Satan? Piccolo? Buu?

“Um...my mom?” He offered. Marron started cackling with laughter.

Calcula was much less amused, “Really, that’s what you’re going with?”

“Shut up.” Trunks glared at her. Marron finally stopped laughing long enough to add, “I mean, he’s not wrong, that _ is _ probably the closest Goten has.”

Calcula’s phone alert went and she glanced down at it, “And my ride is here, so I’m heading out now. Have a good tournament! Give my best to Goten, and however many members of your families that are fighting. Bye, see you at WaterWorld!”

“She seems nice. For a normie.”

“Stop it,” Trunks groaned. Calcula was probably going to talk to Stapular and Inka about just how young Goten’s dad was. Great, that was going to be a fun topic when they met up at the waterpark.

The doors to the building slammed open and out came a tiny Pan running at them at full speed.

“Trunks! Trunks! I finished the pre-luminaries!” Pan yelled at the top of her lungs.

“Preliminaries,” Goten corrected as he followed behind her a few moments later, their dads not much further behind. Looks like Goku had told them all where Trunks was.

“Yeah those! Oh hi Marron! I like your pigtails!” Pan volume still hadn’t dropped a single register, oh boy was she excited.

“Thanks, but only Oolong is allowed to call them pigtails, everyone else calls them twin-tails, Pan.”

“Is it because he’s a piggy?”

“Yes, it makes him feel special and like he’s among friends. How did the prelims go Pan?”

Pan stuck out her tongue, “I won but it was dumb.”

Goten, smiled and ruffled her hair, “Her last guy apparently decided he was going to forfeit because his vow of fighting wouldn’t allow him to hurt a defenseless child. You know after having watched her wipe the floor with the rest of her competition.”

Marron laughed again, “Oh taking the moral highroad that also prevents him from getting his shit kicked in by the Saiyan child. So the Hercule Satan method, nice. Oh! Speaking of which,” she rounded on Goten. “I was elected messenger to deliver the news that all the seats are taken, apparently it’s a big turnout. Use your charms and get us decent seats from Satan.”

“Why Goten?” Trunks asked, she’d been talking to him first and hadn’t brought it up.

“Because he’s actually got the charm needed to actually get us seats,” she snarked back just as quick before turning to Goten. “Go. Talk. With. Satan.” She punctuated each word with a prod to his chest, which Goten allowed.

“Oh! Oh! I wanna go say hi to Grandpa Satan!”

“I never get tired of hearing her say those words,” Trunks said wistfully.

“Hercule encourages her to call him like that in public,” Goten sighed. “Something about it being better for branding purposes.”

“It’s just a shame Piccolo won’t let her call him Uncle Demon King, or we could really cause a ruckus here,” Marron laughed.

Goku was at least amused “I don’t think that would be a good idea, I remember the last time we were here he was specifically asked to not blow up the stadium again.”

“Huh, so I guess Vegeta just missed that memo?” Oh shit, too far Marron. Vegeta agreed and gave a warning noise in her direction that could be best described as a growl.

“And that’s my cue to leave, save the aggression for each other!” She gave a cheeky wave and took off running in the opposite direction.

“Come on Dad, don’t you want to go see Hercule’s face when he hears there’s five Saiyans entering?” Trunks bartered to keep his dad’s mood from souring quicker. Vegeta didn’t give a verbal response, but his glower ticked up into an angry smirk, which was good enough.

Backstage Satan greeted them warmly when they interrupted his pre-tournament lounging, and cooed over Pan. “Did you come all the way just to cheer on your Grandfather?”

“Nope I’m fightin’!” Hercule’s eyes widened but they got bigger as she continued, “And so is Grandpa Goku, an’ Goten, an’ Trunks, an’ Uncle Vegeta too.” She rattled them off as if she was naming all the flavors of ice cream she wanted on her cone. Hercule’s face of despair was not unlike the ice cream vendors too come to think of it as they tried to figure out how to fit 15 scoops on one cone.

“Obviously the five of us made it through the prelims,” Goku added and Hercule looked down the hall at them.

He and Goten were dorking around while Vegeta just sulked against the walls like an antisocial weirdo, which he was. “Hey dude!” They yelled in unison and oh yeah that face fault from Hercule was amazing to witness.

“Oh don’t worry,” Goku reassured the World Champion, “If any of us make it to the finals we have no problem letting you win.” Hercule was ecstatic at the concession, which Trunks wasn’t sure why, not like any of them cared about the title or wanted that much attention.

“Though it’s always possible someone besides us or Buu makes it to the end,” Goku added.

“Oh you, you’re such a kidder. There’s no way that could happen! I mean between you and Vegeta! I mean I saw you at that Zeno Expo, no way anyone here could come close to those foxes.”

“Excuse me, Mr. Satan,” Goten interrupted. “Our friends and family are here to see us, but there’s no more seats, and we wanted to know if you could do something?”

“Oh sure, I can do that!” Hercule just seemed happy to be contributing, “I’ll give them the best seats in the house!”

With that taken care of, they went back downstairs to the green room where some of the other finalists were milling around until things started. There was some luxury couches and a spread of food which was probably very expensive and impressive for an Earthling but was barely a snack counter for one of them. Regardless Goku pulled Vegeta over to investigate the offerings, Pan darting ahead going straight for the sweets.

Which meant they were distracted enough that Trunks was able to pull Goten out into a secluded alcove of the hallway where no one could see or overhear them.

“You know it’s funny,” Goten said as he was still looking around the hall, “This place sure seems smaller than it did last time I was here.”

Trunks shrugged, “I mean makes sense we’re a lot bigger than we were then, don’t even have to steal a costume to compete with the adults this time. But still today could be fun, who knows how it will turn out.”

Goten sighed, “I don’t know, I don’t see anything really that special about it. I mean the only reason we’re here is because Dad wants to try to meet someone new. Our only competition is going to be the same people we came here with, and if I wanted to make the mistake of fighting with your Dad I can do that away from onlookers.”

“Well now, maybe we’ll get lucky and you and I square off, maybe a little repeat of last time we were here.” Trunks grinned.

Goten glared. “I think it’ll end a bit differently this time. After all you only won cause you’re an unrepentant cheater.”

“It’s not cheating, it’s playing smart. Not my fault you don’t take all the advantages you can get. But if it makes you more agreeable I’ll agree to a fair fight with you if you agree to my terms.”

“Which are?”

“Private wager.”

Goten, eyes narrowed with suspicion, because he wasn’t stupid. “What for, you don’t need the money from the tournament prizes.”

“One night where Loser has to do _ anything _ the winner wants.” Trunks made sure to use his seductive voice, the one he knew Goten reacted to, and sure enough he could see the shiver go down Goten’s spine.

“Anything?” Goten clarified, voice already a little husky at the thought.

Trunks leaned in closer so he could say whisper the next part directly into Goten’s pinkening ears.

“I always thought you’d look great in a maid outfit,” Trunks said with a shit-eating grin that Goten couldn’t see. “What do you think Ten, you could call me Master and everything.”

Goten’s breath hitched and the next words were whispered back with venom, “That’s an awfully bold claim, Trunks, you sure you would be okay with losing. I mean what if I want you to dress up if I win?”

“I’d do it, I’d do anything for my master.” Trunks tried his best to imitate the breathy voice acting he’d heard once come from one of Stapular’s games.

“Right, because you have no sense of shame,” Goten sighed. “Besides why would that be an incentive for you to play fair, I’d think it would make you all the more eager to cheat. Because you’re a cheating cheater.”

Trunks shrugged, “I can take anything you dish out, Ten even without playing smart. And besides the bet is already rigged in my favor, even if I lose I still win the long game. Now come on, are you gonna agree or not.”

“Well aren’t the two of you just the most adorable sight, can anyone get in on this wager?”

At the new voice they sprang apart, fuck Trunks hadn’t sensed anyone coming. But then again, he wasn’t used to trying to keep his senses tuned to such low levels of ki. It was one of the other finalists, he was shirtless but had leather pants and a leather cap. And he was looking at them with a hungry gaze.

Oh right, because Trunks had just been pinning Goten against the wall.

“Uh,” Trunks said as he was frantically scrambling to come up with some explanation.

“Will all finalists please gather at the entrance, we’re about to enter the stadium.” The Tournament Announcer’s voice rang out through the building’s intercom system. Oh thank fuck. Goten practically flash-stepped around Trunks and the guy in leather as he fled the scene, with Trunks not that far behind him.

They joined the assembled fighters who were gathered near the Announcer as he began reading off their names to confirm the contestants. The old man was beaming when he read off Goku’s name and was practically giddy when he realized Goku had brought some familiar faces. He paused when he saw that Son Pan was a tiny girl and looked back at Goku for an explanation.

“She’s my grand-daughter!” Like that was explanation enough and he wasn’t wrong.

“Say no more! I see you’re starting her young, I’m sure she’ll be a star. Ah and speaking of which, the finalists of the 25th Junior division are here, you boys will try to keep the rules in mind this time, won't you?” He gave them both a look over the tops of his sunglasses. Announcer was alright.

“We’ll try.” Goten promised.

As they all walked out to the main stage where the tournament drawing would take place Trunks noticed how many of Buu’s fans in the audience were female, that was… unexpected.

Announcer was getting the crowd geared up, “And now time for the drawing of names, it’s a single-elimination match-ups where the winner will then go on to face Mr. Satan!?

Trunks noticed Goten looking around at the other finalists, “You see anyone here that matches what your Dad was talking about? Unearthly strong for an Earthling?”

“Nah. Not yet.”

Since half of the finalists where either related to them by blood, or where just Hercule’s perpetual freeloader and houseguest, there weren’t that many possible contenders.

There was a tall guy with a ponytail who was doing his best to look intimidating, an arrogant guy who thought wearing a bandana on his head was a good fashion choice, and a blonde dude who looked pretty composed and had a sizable amount of ki but nothing that noteworthy about him.

There was also a man in a giant chicken costume. Which, enough said, that man was already well aware of how much a joke he was and was leaning into it.

The man in leather they’d bumped into backstage was still watching them, and Goten was getting flustered by the attention. Great, last thing Goten needed when he was trying to stay in the closet around their families was this attention.

Finally there was a little boy with dark skin, guess Pan wasn’t the only kid competing. Hopefully he put up a good show, if Trunks was matched against him he’d go easy on him, wouldn’t want to discourage the kid after all.

During the drawing of numbers, Trunks noticed Goku and Vegeta whispering furiously to each other before pulling Buu into their conversation. Huh wonder what that was about.

And Goten was the first to draw and ended up with an 8. That meant Trunks needed a 7 to face him, or maybe the 5 or 6 to do it in the second round. Instead he ended up with a 9. Fuck. His second match would now be against his father and that meant he’d never get to fight Goten today.

Goten was not happy either, “This is so unfair! I have to fight Buu in the first round!”

Trunks laughed, “Luck of the draw I guess!” before leaning in and whispering a lot quieter into Goten’s ear, “Guess we’ll be modifying our private wager, first one to lose a match loses. Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll both have a fun victory party.” The despair in Goten’s face was incredible.

Goku was also in agreement, “Serves you right for blowing off your training to go have fun with Trunks.” Trunks rolled his eyes at Goku, he was just like his father, refusing to call the sparring he and Goten did as anything but “playing around” just because they weren’t as serious about it as their dads.

“If anyone should be upset it’s me!” The big guy who went by Mo Kekko said as he approached them. Oh so the other half of the fighters were coming to gather around to check out their competition.“I’m supposed to get in a ring with that little brat! I didn’t come here to sing nursery songs!”

Pan clung to Goku’s leg at the waves of hostility from the big guy before sticking out her tongue at him. The giant oaf continued, “How did a kid like you even make it through the preliminaries, I’ll never know.”

If he had an inkling of what any of them were capable of, he’d be probably the bravest man in the universe for trying to intimidate Pan in front of the rest of them. Not that she wasn’t completely capable of handling herself against a weak-ass Earthling like him.

But then Trunks’s first competitor had to come and open his mouth, “Oh how wonderful, you look like a nice strong young man, I can tell we’ll just have the best time together.”

Goten, delight in his eyes, “Oh man, you’re so lucky, can we trade?” Clearly enjoying Trunks’s discomfort. Hah hah, Goten would be singing a different tune if he had to face Otokosuki, Trunks had seen for himself how anxious Goten got when people he didn’t know tried to flirt with him, much less a shirtless dude in leather who was twice their age.

Then again if Otokosuki had tried hitting on Goten, Trunks would probably end up disqualified from the whole tournament. He didn’t come here today with the intention of killing a man but he was not going to rule it out. Besides, not like his dad wouldn’t back him up.

But of course none of this pre-tournament talk could compare to bandana-head himself Nok coming over and thinking the best course of action was to try to yell trash talk at Vegeta, who completely ignored him.

“Hey old man! I’m talking to you gramps!” Oh he was trying to get a rise, Vegeta did look a bit older than Goku, but not my that much, more in his 20s then a possible teenager. Maybe it was the widows peak. “What are you trying to ignore me, well you won’t be able to ignore me when I’m kicking your ass!”

And then he leaned over to laugh into Vegeta’s face. Trunks cringed, there was no one as touchy about his personal space as his Dad was. And sure enough Vegeta’s response to his personal space being violated was to offhandedly slap him so he went flying back 10 yards and off the stage.

The rest of them burst into laughter, while Vegeta casually told their wide-eyed competition,“Tell the officials we’ve had the first forfeit.”

After that, the rest of the fighters gave their group a wider berth when they went back to the locker rooms, and Trunks didn’t know if it was the death glare Vegeta sent at any of them who approached their corner of changing rooms or the blasé reaction his punch garnered from the rest of them.

Trunks wasn’t oblivious to how they sometimes came across. A strange little group of people who were outsiders to the Earth’s Professional Martial Arts scene but were unsurprised by phenomenal feats of strength that put the whole scene to shame, and all very familiar with each other. They practically screamed, “We’re secretive and cloistered because we know something you don't.''

But Trunks didn’t want any of that attention, Satan could have the credit for saving the world and everything that fame brought him, the good and the bad. Trunks came here because it was somehow a family bonding thing for his dad.

The staring only increased when the reclusive and camera-shy daughter of Hercule Satan, Videl Satan knocked at the door with her husband. “Is everyone decent in there? I’d like to wish my daughter luck before her first fight.” Trunks could see the cogs turning in the other competitor's heads as she and her even rarer seen husband entered and walked right past Vegeta giving him a friendly greeting and getting an acknowledging grunt in return. It couldn’t have been clearer that she was “with them.”

Well except for that little boy who looked worried and off in his own little head. Poor kid.

Pan jumped up when her name was called. “Oh boy! It’s my turn!”

Videl gave her one last hug, “You’ll do great sweetie! You give him a good punch for mommy, we’ll be watching from the box with everyone else.”

“Of course!”

The Announcer was hyping up the crowd by billing her as the “Grand-Daughter of the Savior of Earth, Mr. Satan!”

Whatever big match Mo Kekko was expecting was denied him when Pan got the first hit of the match, a slap that sent him careening across the stage. By the time he’d staggered to his feet, she’d already delivered a kick to his legs which sent him flying into the wall. Literally into it, as he left a sizable impression in the stonework.

And after Announcer gave a quick check to make sure he wasn’t dead, “Pan is the winner!”

The crowd was dead silent before it came to life and roared their appreciation of the match as Pan skipped back into the building. Satan himself showed up moments later, staggering in behind her, “You sure you’re alright?”

“Yup-Yup! Easy as pie!”

Trunks sighed, “Of course she’s fine.”

“Now it’s my turn!” Goku announced, and he turned to the terrified kid to shake his hand, “Best of luck out there, don’t hold back!” The boy was apprehensive but shook Goku’s hand politely.

After the two of them walked out, Goten climbed up on top of the big sign that blocked the doorway, hanging off it to get a good look at the match.

“Geez, my dad sure is eager to fight the kid, what gives?”

“Kakarot believes the boy to be the reincarnation of the malevolent form of Buu.”

Wait what. Trunks immediately hoisted himself up next to Goten to get a look for himself. If that was true then this was a fight he had to see.

##  **(Marron)**

Well, the second try worked out. After the embarrassing first option of seats put them squarely in the line of view of the entire stadium, Videl was able to rearrange their seating to get them a private box.

Much better.

Everyone relaxed in the room, away from the prying eyes of strangers.

“At least we’re not the only ones having problems getting seats, I saw a bunch of people turned away at the entrance because they were out of space,” said Yamcha.

Marron piped up, “Yeah I talked to one of Trunks’s classmates who couldn’t get in, so she settled for just wishing Trunks and Goten luck and left. Trunks was so relieved.”

“Oh, who was she?” Bulma asked with far too much interest in the answer, ChiChi had also perked up and listened, so of course Marron’s only choice was to obfuscate. She shrugged. “I don’t know, a girl.”

Then, quickly changing the topic to deny them a chance to ask further questions, Marron continued, “She thought Goku was Pan’s dad at first, asked me if Trunks was trying to pull one over on her.”

“Can’t blame them,” Krillin groaned, “Goku looks like he could pass for a teenager. Curse those Saiyan genes.”

Gohan groaned, “Tell me about it, my colleagues keep confusing me with freshman at the university. I think official nickname among the students is Professor Babyface.”

Videl patted his shoulder, “Don’t worry honey, I think you can manage to pull off the look rather well.”

“Just wait till Pan hits her teens and people assume all four of you are siblings,” Marron said through her giggles.

At that both Chichi and Gohan made the same loud noise that was less words and more a deep grumbling from their very souls.

“It’s not funny,” Gohan scowled at Marron when she burst into full laughter.

“Oh stop complaining, Gohan,” No 18 said, her bored tone never changing a beat as she spoke. “You’re not the only ones who have extended youth. At least you didn’t have your body torn down and rebuilt on the cellular level by Dr. Gero to get it.”

Marron watched with delight how many more of the Dragon gang clamored shut at her mother’s words, not comfortable with the reminder of just what becoming an Android had entailed. Only her father and herself were used to her mother’s blunt nature and disregard for social etiquette and thus unaffected.

“That’s why you got the mom haircut, right Mom? So people would stop calling you my older sister?” She asked, knowing full well the answer to why her mother had cut her hair so short, but also knowing that no one else was going to have a decent follow up to No 18’s last statement and wanted to take it easy on them.

“Yes. That and it’s easier to intimidate the sales clerks, they already know I’m prepared to talk to their managers if their assistance is subpar. It's much more efficient this way and I don't have to break any bones.”

There was an awkward pause as before some halting titters followed. Yamcha was the only one who actually said anything, “You know 18, I can never tell if you’re joking or not.”

“Good.”

Krillin sighed loudly and Marron giggled again. She loved her parents.

“Oh hey they’re coming out now!” Ox-King said and everyone sat up to look at the parade of contestants walking to the main stage.

“Is that a man in a chicken costume?” Gohan asked.

Puar sighed, “Oh Tenkaichi Budokai, never change you crazy collection of weirdos.”

Oolong elbowed him, “Hopefully we won’t have to blow up the moon when _ someone _grows a tail back this time. Roshi, Piccolo, you guys on standby?”

“Please don’t,” Dende asked, no small amount of pleading in his voice, “It would really cause a lot of problems for me, the tide ecosystem is fragile enough as it is.”

Gohan laughed awkwardly, “I don’t think that’s likely, it’s been years and years since Dad and Vegeta had theirs and I mean the boys and Pan weren’t even born with tails. I think it was because it had been so long since any of us had tails before they were born. My current theory is that Saiyans actually have an evolutionary tract that’s more similar to the style of Lamarckian-”

Bulma groaned and waved a hand at Gohan while not taking her eyes off the stage. “Gohan not now, we can talk about evolutionary theories later. I came here to see my husband and son make ridiculous fools out of themselves.” Then looking over the competition her attention settled on the big dude who answered to Mo Kekko, “He looks pretty big.”

No 18 scoffed, “Oh please, he’s all show, sure he’s big but I doubt he could back it up.”

“I don’t know,” Bulma sing-songed but didn’t try to argue her point more than that.

No 18 turned to her husband, “Krillin why didn’t you sign up, you had to know the field was going to be this weak right?”

“Are you joking, sure some of these guys are jokes, but there’s no way I could win against Goku!” Krillin retorted.

No 18 sighed, “All I know is I won when I entered, even if I did let Satan claim the ultimate title. Least I got paid for taking the dive.”

Marron interrupted them before they really got going on that topic, “Oh hey! It’s Pan’s turn to get a ball!” That got everyone’s attention and everyone watched as Pan drew her number and she was facing off against Mo Kekko. Ooh that would be fun to watch.

The rest of the matchups were much less promising in their entertainment value until Trunks pulled his ball.

“Oh hey, Trunks gets to fight the Leather Daddy,” Marron commented.

That got a reaction,

“Marron, why are you calling that… gentleman by that name.” Yamcha said, stammering out around his own embarrassment.

“Well I mean,” she gestured to the leather clad man with a hat and whose attention was laser focused on Trunks and Goten, “what else would I call him? You know I’m right.”

“He’s just, um,” Yamcha attempted to respond but No 18 interrupted him before he could get out anything cognizant, “He probably thinks Trunks is a twink, or what’s the muscular version called? A twunk?”

“Mommy stop it, clearly Trunks would be a jock.”

Bulma glowered at them, “Both of you stop it. My little boy is just fine the way he is.”

“I’m not saying he’s not, I’m just saying his lavender hair is probably why the Leather Daddy has him confused for a twink right now,” Marron responded. Well, that or the fact that he hadn’t taken his hand off of Goten’s shoulder this entire time, but Marron had enough tact not to point it out directly to Bulma’s face.

Krillin was apologetic, “I’m sorry Bulma, it’s someone’s edgy teenager phase right now.”

No 18 huffed, “Marron’s fine, my edgy teenager phase involved much more car theft and wanton destruction and she hasn’t gotten to that yet.”

“Maybe I just haven’t found the right car yet,” Marron countered.

Their conversation was interrupted when Vegeta decided to backhanded his opponent clear off the stage and into a sign ten yards behind them.

“Yep, that’s Vegeta,” Bulma sighed, completely unsurprised. “Mmhmm,” murmured half the box, equally unsurprised, in fact Marron was sure they were all impressed that he was able to resist for this long. The only exception for Bulla who was loudly cheering, “That was awesome! Do it again!”

Videl stood up when the fighters began to walk back into the building, “Gohan, let’s go down and talk to Pan before her match.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea.”

As the two of them slipped out Marron moved over to give Bulla some advice, “Bulla, when you order people around you should always say, ‘By order of your princess’. After all you are one, you want people to pay their proper respects.”

“I _ am _ a princess.” Bulla was having a revelation, and if it was possible for a four year old to sound moments away from going mad with power, that was it.

Bulma glared, “Don’t give her ideas, she might actually listen to you. Krillin, control your daughter!”

“What makes you think I have any ability to do that? Do you not remember my track record with getting teenage girls to listen to me, or have you completely forgotten the pirate caves?”

Bulma made a face, clearly annoyed Krillin had a point, “That was different, I could bully Goku into listening to me.”

“Got it, to do what I want, I need to make a Saiyan listen to me and do my dirty work.”

“No!” Bulma and Krillin both yelled, but Marron ignored them.

“I don’t know, I think that strategy is pretty sound,” said No 18, completely uncaring about the several withering glares directed her way.

Chatter in the box continued until Gohan and Videl made it back to the box just in time for Pan’s match to start up.

“Pan! Don’t break him!” Bulla yelled to her best friend as she walked out, “By orders of your princess!”

Pan’s match ended moments after starting with an easy victory for the girl and a wonderfully dramatic response from the crowd.

“Goku is up next!” Krillin shouted happily as everyone else jostled to get a good view.

Piccolo was more brusque with his response, “This will be the only fight of this tournament that matters.”

“I’d say so.” Dende agreed.

Marron perked up, that sounded ominous, so both the Earth-Namekians thought the little boy was special? Marron focused all her attention on the boy, trying to get a read on his ki. It was definitely odd, it wasn’t just that he was suppressing his energy, that was a common enough but there was something else about it.

Despite not doing much fighting herself Marron always had an uncanny ability to sense ki, maybe it was just growing up surrounded by people with ridiculous amounts of it or something about the fact that she spent her time as a fetus gestating 9 inches away from an infinite energy core. Either way growing up she got a lot of practice at being able to track the various notable ki levels of the gang and she was fairly experienced at knowing how to read people now.

But Uub’s felt different. There certainly seemed like there was a large reserve there but it also felt a little evanescent, not completely there. Was it just because he was suppressing it differently? Or maybe he didn’t have full access to it. Strange.

He looked terrified of Goku and the match was off to a slow start as Goku got a few blows in before finally something must have clicked on and the boy took a running dash and landed a blow that Goku blocked but Marron could see Goku’s ki field around his forearm where the hit landed was smarting. Oh man that kid was _ strong. _And that wasn’t even his only move as he and Goku darted around and started to wreck the stage with their speed and strength.

“Where has this kid hiding?” Krillin yelled as the entire box was stunned by the site of a young boy managing to keep up with Goku in base.

But then suddenly the fight was over and Goku was just talking to the kid for a bit before they seemed to have reached some understanding. Goku then turned and flew up to their box.

Gohan leaned out to meet him, “What’s up, Dad?”

“Not much. I’m just going to have to go live with this kid in his village for a while, so I can train him to use his powers to protect the Earth.”

Oh just that then, yeah nothing much about that. But judging by the loud and frustrated protests from Krillin, Bulma, and ChiChi it sounded like they didn’t agree.

ChiChi was in hysterics “Not again!”

“GOKU!” Bulma yelled, in the voice that Marron would forever remember hearing a drunken Oolong once described as, “Oh great, the monkey boy is groping people in public again” voice.

“I don’t know how long this training will take, might be a few years, hold down the fort till I get back!” Goku said, either completely oblivious to how distressed he was making everyone, or more likely just not caring.

“You’re leaving? For years!? Dad!” Gohan yelled, like this was suddenly a new experience for him. Which Marron didn’t know why she'd heard more than enough stories to prove the contrary. Maybe it was just for effect.

Goku ignored them and then flew down to where Trunks and Goten were in front of the building. Marron leaned out the window to try to get a better view but it was hard to make out what was being said.

Pan came running over to Goku in tears, and oh no how was Goku going to resist this. Marron focused all her attention on their energy signatures below and after a moment the angry grumblings of the box’s spectators faded into the background and she was able to make out what was being said.

“...it won’t be that long, and I’ll only be on the other side of the Earth, and I’ll come and visit.”

“You swear?” Pan choked out around her tears.

“Yeah, it’s a promise. Besides, there's no need to cry, you’re a warrior. One of the strongest kind there is.”

“Okay,” Pan wasn’t happy about it but her tears had at least stopped.

Goku turned his attention to the boys and Marron widened her focus to their energy to hear their voices too.

“You two need to keep up your training too, like I told Uub, it’s going to be up to you guys to protect the Earth in the future. I won’t be around forever. And take care of each other.

Trunks and Goten exchanged a glance and nodded voiced their agreement.

“I’ll train too, Grandpa!” Pan added, “I’ll get stronger and stronger so I can protect the Earth just like the boys!”

“Great, that’s the spirit.”

Goku looked over at Vegeta, oh boy how was this going to go? Marron had to hear this. “Hey Vegeta, sorry I’m taking off now, I know I dragged you all the way out here for nothing.”

“Doesn’t matter, Vegeta snorted, “not like we could have tested our real strength, we’d have destroyed this entire stadium before we got warmed up."

Then they did their stupid they they sometimes did where held a telepathic conversation with their locked gazes which unfortunately Marron couldn’t overhear. They broke after a moment with Goku laughing, “Hey that’s the truth. See ya around, buddy.”

Goku went back to the ring and took off flying with Uub and if Marron hadn’t still been keyed into Vegeta’s energy she wouldn’t have picked up what he added under his breath, “Yeah right, this isn’t about protecting the Earth at all, you’re just eager for a good fight.” And she couldn’t be certain, but she was pretty sure his last words, even softer than the rest, were a very fond _“I swear, you’ll be the death of me Kakarot.” _

Wait was that like a sweet nothing for kismesis? Oh no, that was both hilarious and somewhat adorable. Thank the gods she had such an amazing poker face, otherwise Marron wouldn’t be able to look at him without cracking up next time she saw Vegeta.

But still, that Earthling nobody sure had been packing some real power, and at such a young age. Marron grinned over the din of the noise of the box around her. Looked like things were finally getting interesting around here. She couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing Marron, she’s so much fun. 
> 
> Less fun was trying to figure out a way to make the portrayal of Otokosuki less problematic. Oh Toriyama, you’re such a grumpy old Japanese man writing in 1995 with your latent homophboia.
> 
> I took a lot of the dialogue from the Kai episodes and the manga chapters, and I want everyone to know that in the original dub of DBZ they attempted to make Trunks and Goten less gay by adding lines about girlfriends, but these lines were dropped when they did Kai. 
> 
> Don’t know when the next chapter will be posted, but I promise a lot more Vegeta and some talk about kismesis.


	3. You And I Will Be Painting Pictures In The Sky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is derived from a line from “I’m Only Me When I’m With You” by Taylor Swift, because let’s get sappy love-song up in here. Once again beated by the wonderful Zespaira. 
> 
> Uh, slight content warning in there’s a fair bit of talk about death in this chapter, but this is Dragon Ball, so it’s not meant to be taken seriously?

##  **(Trunks)**

The rest of the tournament was canceled due to Goku and Uub ditching and ruining the tournament bracket, along with the ring. Granted between the flashiness of the fight between and the complete lack of a reaction from the people they came with, the rest of the fighters seemed more than a little bit relieved.

If anything the person who was most upset about the day’s events, besides the heartbroken Announcer, was Pan. She had come here for a tournament fighting and would not be satisfied with only one match, indeed she was not mollified until both Buu and Goten both agreed to give her a couple of exposition matches.

The first fight was a wild one, Pan’s unstoppable enthusiastic force had met its match against Buu’s immovable body, every blow she threw was like punching taffy and every time she tried to knock him down he bounced right back up laughing. The fight only ended after several minutes when the pink Djinn got distracted by some chipmunks and forfeited the match to go feed and/or turn them into candy to eat himself? He ran off yelling “I NEED FOOD!” and Trunks was not quite sure what that meant and didn’t care to find out.

Goten was not so easily distracted but he was also not used to fighting a target smaller than him, most of his fights had been the other way around, and Pan managed to slip through his reach and get a surprise punch to his solar plexus which gave her just enough time to kick him out of the ring.

After the matches they headed to the restaurant that Bulma had reserved for them. It was a big place and while their group wasn’t going to need all the floor space they absolutely needed the big kitchen that came with it. By now very practiced at what holding a party reservation for their group at a restaurant entailed, Bulma had had them arrange the tables into two long banquet lines for when they arrived.

The topic of choice for dinner was everyone taking a chance to drag Goku, it was the talk of the party table as everyone relished a chance to share gripes about him.

Meanwhile over at the other table in the “Saiyan Section” as it had been dubbed years ago, there was a lot less talking and a lot more eating taking place. Indeed the staff at the restaurant found their attention nearly monopolized by the constant need to replace the multitude of dishes on the table as they devoured by only the six people who sat at it, their seats spread out to provide as much space as possible for the dishes upon dishes of food.

Buu had his own table off in the corner where he was eating as vociferously, but exclusively engaged with the dessert menu. It had been discovered by trial and error that he couldn’t be allowed to eat at the Saiyan table lest Pan got distracted by all the sweets and ate herself sick on them.

The two table setup had become standard practice over the years, partly due to practical reasons but also because several of the Earthlings complained that they couldn’t enjoy their own meals if the were watching the Saiyans pig out.

While some of them had managed to develop tolerance over the years to the site, Bulma and ChiChi being the most obvious ones, some of the others never did. Indeed, Trunks had seen Piccolo sometimes tinge purple if looked over at long enough. No. 18 continued to insist they ruined her appetite, which was a bit of a suspicious claim given her constitution, but an excuse others took when they could get it.

By the time they finished with dinner, and people besides Buu got a chance at the dessert menu, it was still pretty early so it was decided to move the afterparty back at Capsule Corp. Bulma had come prepared and had several vehicles in her capsule case, and back at home base Trunks was soon helping his Grandma work on mixing up a bunch of drinks to bring out to the party guests outside. Grandma Panchy had spent some of her youth as a bartender and Trunks found her vast knowledge about different cocktails endlessly educational, it was fascinating the way the different alcohols and juices combined in the different concoctions. He’d been helping her mix them for years even if he’d only been allowed in the past year to have more than a tiny taste himself.

Finally they wrapped up in the kitchen and Trunks carried out the third tray full of drinks outside to see the party already kicked into full gear, everyone already enjoying themselves with the earlier trays of drinks. He grabbed a very strong one he’d made for himself, knowing he wasn’t going to get more than a little buzzed on it thanks to his constitution, but hey it was a party after all.

He looked around and immediately saw ChiChi and Goten on a bench, ChiChi looked to still be in a right tiff about Goku leaving and had decided the best way to deal was to gripe about it to her youngest Son and not let him leave her side for the rest of the night. Trunks could see the tight grip she had on Goten’s wrist, and sure theoretically her strength was no match for Goten’s and he could escape but that was ignoring ChiChi’s iron will and just how intimidating she could be when she was angry. Instead Goten was placating her as he sat next to her and was pretending to listen.

Yeah Trunks could identify a losing strategy when he saw it, he wasn’t going to be able to hang out with Goten for the rest of the night. Instead he decided to wander around to see what everyone else was doing.

There was a game of Cheater’s Charades going on with the teams of Puar and Yamcha and Oolong and Dende. Between Puar and Yamcha’s nigh telepathic ability to read each other’s minds, Dende’s actual telepathy, Oolong’s underhanded tactics, and Puar and Oolong’s shapeshifting abilities there was no way to have a normal game so instead the goal was not so much to get your teammate to guess correctly but for the two to work tag-team to try to mislead the rival team while not getting caught.

Roshi’s and Marron’s heckling interference only adding a further complication that made the game significantly more raucous. Buu was also watching and shouting frequently, though Trunks doubted he understood the mechanics or mindgames at play and was more just requesting things for Puar and Oolong to transform into, it served the same purpose.

Satan was off talking with Ox-King about his horns and asking the practicality of using prosthetic ones himself to add more gravitas to his stage presence. Why he could tell people it was a side-effect of coming into his demonic heritage, or something like that, Trunks didn’t keep up with whatever kayfabe story Satan was currently spinning for the public. Videl was trying futilely to convince her father that he didn’t need to add yet another element to his gimmick.

He saw his mom and Krillin at one of the tables surrounded by empty glasses as they were continuing one of their favorite drunken conversation topics, ragging on Goku. Gohan was sitting with them as well but he was less contributing to their conversation and more making the occasional noise of agreement as he kept his face buried in the book he’d brought with him.

Vegeta was off in his usual spot during these types of parties, off to the side and by himself with a single drink in his hand, though he was close enough that he was probably enjoying listening to Bulma and Krillin’s conversation. Everyone was pretty used to it by now and knew to give him a wide berth, the only people who really approached him at these things without a damn good reason were Goku or Bulma. Sometimes Piccolo joined him too, but as far as Trunks could tell it wasn’t because he wanted to actually converse with Vegeta, more he wanted to get in on the best spot at a party to stand around silently brooding while still technically counting it as some sort of social interaction.

But this evening Piccolo’s attention was being monopolized by Pan and Bulla. Apparently _ someone _ had told the girls that they technically princesses, and the both of them but Bulla especially had gotten fixated on the notion. Trunks could just tell this was going to do wonders for Bulla’s already massively inflated ego but that was a problem for another day.

Instead the girls opted to use their newly dubbed princess powers to bully Piccolo into making them dresses with his clothes beam. Trunks was actually impressed with the elaborate dress designs Piccolo was creating, did he spend some of his free time looking at fashion books? Or maybe it was all the help that No 18 was providing, she had taken an interest and wandered over to provide suggestions. Somehow each new dress having more and more frills and sparkles than the one before it, which was a rather impressive feat by the third iteration.

Trunks decided the best place to sit down was at his mother’s table where he could zone-out and contemplate some designs while half-listening to the amusing banter.

“You’re not gonna get jealous that Goku’s off training with someone else, are you?” Krillin called over to Vegeta, and Trunks only just resisted the urge to facepalm. Yep, Krillin sure had been drinking, he must have liked to make bad decisions when he was drunk.

Vegeta glared in response with enough force that Trunks could see Krillin reeling back and maybe rethinking how good an idea it was to ask the question.

“Kakarot wants a chance to train an Earthling child who has potential, nothing more to it than that. I can tell the difference between Kakarot’s passing whims and his long-term interests.” Vegeta said, “I know I’m in no danger of being replaced as his favored sparring partner.”

Bulma thankfully decided to change the subject. “Oh Gohan, I finished upgrading the planetarium to meet the requirements you asked for, including the plans for our special project.”

“Gee thanks, Bulma,” Gohan said and put down his book as she tossed him a capsule.

Krillin looked intrigued, “Oh, what’s Gohan got a planetarium for? And what kind of special project?”

“It’s for my university work,” Gohan explained, “I've been working in partnership with the Astronomy professor to try and improve the way the classes are taught for the students, it’s kind of hard to just stick with big lectures and textbooks, this will provide a more kinesthetic way to teach students about the subject.”

“And the special project?” Trunks asked, he was curious about what his mom had been working on that it needed to be kept on the downlow.

Bulma had a gleam in her eyes, “Well you know what they say, the best explanation is a demonstration, Gohan why don’t we give everyone a nice little show tonight so they can see it for themselves?”

“I mean, I was kind of hoping Dad would be here to see it.” Gohan said, and oh so he was annoyed about the day’s events too.

“Oh forget Goku!” Bulma said. “He wants to run off to the other side of the planet he’s going to miss things. We can all enjoy the special project without him!”

“I mean, I could...” Gohan hesitated but it was far too late for backing out.

“Hey everyone!” Krillin yelled, “Gohan and Bulma have been working on a secret project, do you guys want to see something cool!”

“Oh boy, those are dangerous words to hear when we’re with this group,” Yamcha shouted back in response, sounding more than a little tipsy.

“Oh, what are we exploding now?” Marron piped up as she walked over.

“Nothing is exploding,” Bulma said, but Trunks heard her add under her breath “And hopefully no one either.”

Everyone gathered around while Bulma threw the capsule into a large open space and the usual domed structure appeared moments later.

The inside was simple and practical, a well-cushioned floor with many piles of pillows in which to sprawl and a centre podium with a projector and computer on it. Gohan went to the podium and was setting up the program while everyone kicked off their shoes by the doorway and made themselves comfortable on the floor and piles of pillows, soon everyone was laying down facing the middle of the room.

Considering ChiChi didn’t look liable to let go of Goten any time soon Trunks settled for being with his family for the show. They were right by Krillin’s family because he and Bulma were still giggling together like kids.

“So, here is how the sky looks above us right here at Capsule Corp,” Gohan began and the projector obligingly flickered a glittering imitation of the starry sky onto the ceiling.

“And here is how the sky looks over at Kame House.” A chorus of polite oohs and ahhs as the stars shifted slightly above them, but there was still the eagerness as everyone waited for the real show to kick off. Gohan with a star projector was a promise of something interesting.

“Now here is what the sky looks like over at New Namek.”

And the stars dramatically changed as they danced to new locations, Trunks wasn’t one for looking at the stars much but even he sense that it was a very different sky they were looking up at.

In the center of the room a spherical hologram appeared above Gohan’s podium, “This is a map of our Universe, well the Mortal parts anyways, I didn’t want to include Other World or any of those places lest my colleagues think I’m a kook.” A gentle laugh filtered through the room before Gohan continued, “Now here is where Earth is and here is where New Namek is located.”

Two glowing dots appeared on his projection of the universe and they were quite far apart. A moment later and one of the countless stars above them in the sky started to glow much brighter than the others, “And here is where the Earth is in the sky from New Namek’s perspective. Now who wants to see what the sky looks like on a different place most of us have been to?”

A new glowing dot appeared on the very edge of the hologram map while the stars moved above, but unlike before when the entire dome was filled with stars they only filled up half the ceiling, the other half was a void. “And here on the edge of our Universe once stood the nameless planet that we all went on a space picnic to a few years back when Beerus and Champa held that tournament for us with Universe 6.”

There was something off about only seeing half a sky above them, Trunks felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Eager to look at something else he glanced around the room and saw that he wasn’t the only one unsettled or averting their eyes.

Krillin wasn’t looking at the sky at all but the projector in the middle of the room, and spoke loud enough for the whole room to hear, “You know it’s funny, I always forget how big the Universe is you know? Like, when we zoom around with Goku’s instant transmission or the space cubes, you forget how far apart everything is, or that there is an edge.”

There was a smattering of agreement from the room, and Trunks bet he wasn’t the only one eager for the sky to change again, seeing the edge of a universe wasn’t something one wanted to look at or think about for long. “Hey Gohan do you know where Beerus’s planet is?” he called out.

“Yeah, I have the coordinates programed in, just a sec,” and moments later a new blinking dot on the map and the sky shifted a moment later.

“Gohan! I have a question!” Bulla interrupted loudly, “If all the rest of the Gods live in Other World, why isn’t Uncle Beerus?” The question got a laugh from the room, though it could have just been one of relief at seeing a full horizon of stars above them once again.

“_Uncle Beerus, _ Bulma, why are you letting your daughter call him that,” Krillin chided quietly. Bulma blew a raspberry at him before she chose to answer Bulla’s question, louder for the rest of the room, “Whis says that Other World is much more condensed and that Beerus finds it stifling. Or I think his exact words were ‘bunch of divine busybodies’.”

That got another laugh from the room. But not from Gohan, Trunks noted the odd discrepancy, instead Gohan’s gaze was fixed somberly on the projector map as a new dot blinkered on, but the sky didn’t change with it.

“Should I continue?” Gohan asked carefully in lieu of saying the new location’s name. It would have seemed like a non-sequitur if Trunks didn’t see that Gohan was looking at the one person the question was actually directed at.

“Do it.” Vegeta grunted, and you could hear the sound of the entire room holding it’s breath as the stars shifted once again.

“And here is the night sky as it would have appeared on a planet that was destroyed around 43 years ago, known at the time by the designation Planet Vegeta.”

Oh, this was very different than all the foreign skies Gohan had shown them prior. For one this was a view of the sky that could no longer be experienced in person, which gave the whole thing a somber air. But for another, this was a more than novel experience for one of the room’s inhabitants.

Trunks heard his Dad take in a sharp breath but he didn’t say anything, whatever thoughts his father had at seeing the sky of his childhood once again he wasn’t sharing.

Bulma was the only one brave enough to break the silence, “Gohan, you want the dial on the right, make sure you only turn it one click.”

The room got heavier, and not because of the tension in the air, but literally the entire room suddenly increased in gravity. There was a chorus of surprised noises throughout the room, mainly from people who weren’t used to any increased gravity. Trunks meanwhile barley registered it and he bet a number of the people in the room who were in the same position.

“Woah, hey now what’s that.” Satan’s voice echoed through the room.

“Wait is something going on?” Pan asked confused by her human grandfather’s reaction. Trunks wondered if she even felt it.

“It’s heightened gravity,” Gohan explained, “I only have it set for double that of Earth’s for the moment.”

“And I ask that you keep it there while I’m in the room,” Bulma added. “It should be considered more for presentation effect than for training, the room is only capable of maxing out at 10x, anyways.”

Wait, didn’t Vegeta once mention to Trunks that that was the natural gravity of his birth planet? That meant this had to have been something his mom and Gohan had planned together. Some sort of gift for his dad and Goku?

“Wait so this is what the sky looked like from the planet that Daddy and Uncle Goku are from?” Bulla asked loudly.

“Where are we right now?” Pan piped up. “In the sky.”

“Here.” Gohan said as he pushed a few buttons and then one of the distant stars off to the right began to glow brighter than any of the others.

Vegeta made a sharp involuntary noise and seconds later his voice boomed throughout the room, “Everyone. Get out now.”

He didn’t shout it but it still rang out throughout the room with an intensity and the undisputed order and implied threat to his words was something everyone heard.

And moments later everyone was making for the door at once, wanting to leave an enclosed space with an emotionally compromised Vegeta as quickly as they could. “Okay,” Gohan said as everyone was scrambling, “that’s enough of a show for tonight, how about we get some fresh air.”

The room cleared in record time, most everyone not taking the time to trying to locate their own shoes just grabbing a set and getting out the door as quick as possible, and some didn’t even do that. Trunks hung back and let others out first, trying to avoid the traffic jam, before he was one of the last to leave.

But he’d only just stepped out of the dome before his mother was grabbing his arm, “Listen, Goku isn’t here, so you need to step up and keep your father company right now. You know what, take Bulla and Pan and see if you can get Gohan and Goten to join you guys as well. He can’t be in there with just his thoughts, he’ll get too tied up in his own head. I don’t care how much he blusters, get him talking, keep him distracted.”

“Right,” Trunks nodded and went back outside to where everyone was trying to figure out whose shoes belonged to who. He spotted Goten talking to his mother and sent a tiny pulse of ki in his direction to get his attention, Goten turned around and when Trunks jerked his head excused himself and ducked over.

“Okay, Mom says we’re doing a stupid Saiyan bullshit thing with Dad,” Trunks began. “Can you go talk to Gohan about him and Pan staying the night with us in the planetarium, Mom doesn’t want Dad to be in there on his own right now.”

Goten’s eyes widened before nodding a moment later, “Got it, I’ll go talk to Gohan, you get the girls, I think I heard Pan say something about wanting to go exploring.”

Trunks nodded and noticed the girls, complete in their bedazzled ballgowns, were about to make a run off into the wilderness of the estate, before they could slip off into the trees he’d flash-stepped over and scooped them both up in his arms earning twin surprised _ “oofs” _ from them. Amazingly while they both started to squirm they weren’t actually putting in the effort they could if they really wanted to escape, probably both intrigued enough to where this was going to allow the manhandling for the moment.

Goten caught up with him as he made his way back to the planetarium, “Okay so, Gohan says he would but he’s got a lecture tomorrow and really needs the sleep, but he says it’s fine for Pan to spend the night so long as I fly back home tomorrow together with her. Mom was kinda unhappy about it until Videl and Piccolo convinced her that it was a good idea and Vegeta might want need the company right now.”

“What’s going on, what were you asking my parents and Grandma permission for?” Pan piped up.

Trunks thought quickly, “We’re doing a surprise slumber party, only this time we’re gonna go do it in the planetarium and keep Dad company.”

Bulla was excited, “Oh boy! Slumber party!”

“Oh is this gonna be a Saiyan thing?” Pan asked.

“Probably,” Goten laughed and ruffled her hair.

They entered the room, and oh Vegeta had already cranked it up to the 10x setting. He looked up sharply when they opened the door and walked in. The fact that he was surprised by their presence keyed Trunks in to how off he must have been, usually his Dad was always aware of where they were.

“Hey Dad your company is here, per mom’s orders, we’re stuck with you in here for the night.” Trunks called out. “You can talk about whatever you want and we’ll listen. Or you can tell us funny stories. Whatever. We’re here when you’re ready?”

Vegeta only grunted in acknowledgement, which was about what Trunks expected really. He’d leave his dad to his own thoughts for a while, he’d take his time with words. He always did.

He turned back to the girls who were both fascinated with the gravity being ten times higher then what they were used to.

“Oh, wow! I can feel this one!” Bulla said with surprise, though Trunks noted that she seemed only slightly restrained by the amount of additional weight.

“Yeah, a little bit,” agreed Pan.

“Pan, look!” Bulla yelled and spun around, and unlike it had outside the room her dress didn’t puff out but instead was holding heavily down.

Goten laughed at her amazement, “You know if you wrap your ki around the fabric you can negate the gravity effects.”

“Really?” Bulla asked skeptically.

“Yeah,” Trunks explained, “it’s what we do automatically with our clothes when we fight. Pan, that’s why your gi doesn’t rip unless you take a blow hard enough that it disrupts your ki. You guys can do it with the pillows too. Give it a try.”

This was suddenly enough to gain the full attention of both Pan and Bulla as they started to play with throwing pillows trying to see how far they could get it in the heightened gravity before their control over their ki wavered and the pillows fell with a loud _ thump _. Pan was obviously having a much easier time of it, and it quickly devolved into Pan demonstrating to Bulla how to do it in a little game of monkey see, monkey do.

There, that would keep them entertained for a bit, so Trunks and Goten ducked over to the other far side of the room, as far away from his father as they could get. Trunks threw an arm over Goten’s shoulder, a common enough sight that it wouldn’t raise any suspicions, but also allowed their faces to be inches away from each other as they had a whispered conversation.

“Thanks for going along with this, I know I didn’t exactly give you much choice.”

“It’s fine,” Goten rolled his eyes.“I mean, of course I’m going to be here, being forced into stupid Saiyan bullshit is basically our life story at this point. I mean when it’s not involving other divine people.”

Trunks laughed, before dropping his voice down several registers so only Goten could hear, “We can have the post-Budokai celebrations later. I can’t wait to collect my winnings, you did lose to Pan.”

“I’m not wearing a maid outfit,” Goten protested, in the tone of voice that Trunks knew he meant it and no amount of cajoling was going to get him anywhere, so he went for the backup plan.

“I’ll settle for just the stockings and garters,” Trunks bargained and at Goten’s hesitation continued, “Come on Ten, your leg muscles will look _ amazing _ in them _ .” _

“Why are you always so interested in getting me in women’s underwear?” Goten asked, more than a bit exasperated, because yes this wasn’t the first time Trunks had brought it up. Okay, so he _ might _have a little bit of a fetish, but he blamed it on his stupid family naming theme.

“It’s not getting you in them, it’s getting you out of them where all the fun is.” Trunks started to rub Goten’s bicep in a persuasive yet hopefully not blatantly un-platonic manner.

“_Maybe.” _

Translation: ‘I’ll consider it only so long as you drop it for now, and if I’m feeling particularly generous, or it’s your birthday.’ Which hell yes. Trunks would absolutely take it as a win.

They were interrupted when a pillow came flying at them, and between the surprise attack and the gravity of the room it was actually enough to knock them both off their feet.

“Ow!” “What the f-” “Boy!”

Trunks’s mouth snapped shut before he could finish his response. Right, no cursing in front of the girls, even if they were being little monsters.

“Oh that was a really good throw!” Pan sounded more amazed than anything else, clearly this had been better than their previous attempts. Bulla was grinning like a tiny gremlin. “Daddy did you see! I got them both!”

“Yes, it was a fine throw Sweetheart.” Vegeta ruffled a hand through Bulla’s hair as he walked across the room, before turning a sterner eye to the teenagers getting to their feet. “And it wouldn’t have hit if they had been aware of their surroundings.”

Trunks gave a grunt of exasperation, “Okay, why would I be expecting an attack when it’s just us standing around.”

“A Saiyan should always be on their guard,” Vegeta lectured.

“Yeah Trunks,” Bulla said, putting her hands on her hips, “How can you win if you’re not on your guard?”

“Well I mean, I did beat Goten earlier,” Pan said, a devilish little smile on her face.

“Okay that’s it,” Goten said and charged at Pan who squealed and took off running as he proceeded to chase her before tackling her on the other side of the room, by her shrieks of delight he was probably trying to tickle her.

“She is never going to let you live this down, you know that,” Trunks called out to them.

“It’s not my fault, it’s harder to hit a target that’s so tiny!” Goten yelled, before finally managing to pick Pan up in his arms and powerbombing her into the ground hard enough that the thickly padded floor cratered beneath her. She was only momentarily stunned before hopping right back up ready to go a second round when Vegeta’s booming voice cut them off.

“Let’s cease the combat for now, despite the heightened gravity this is not a training room and I believe Gohan needs it intact for his presentation.”

“Right, this room is my Daddy’s, he wouldn’t want us fighting in here,” Pan said, as she stood up and dusted herself off. Goten looked a bit abashed when he noticed the crater, “Do you think Gohan will notice?”

“Just pile a bunch of pillows there and if anyone asks he can spin a story about a meteor simulation going haywire,” Trunks said.

He looked back to where his father was standing, still running a hand through Bulla’s hair, and was it his imagination or was Vegeta looking oddly content? Well content for him anyways, it still was a pretty stern expression, but it was a big change of pace from how he’d been moments before yelling at everyone to leave.

Trunks had a pretty good grasp on how to read his dad, and there was definitely something fond as he watched Pan and Goten try to arrange the pillows to minimize the crater. Maybe Bulma had been onto something about Vegeta needing company while he stood under the forgotten sky of a lost planet. After all they were all Saiyan, even if they were Earthling hybrids.

“Daddy, what were you thinking about when you were looking up at the sky when we came in?” Bulla asked and tugged at his pant leg.

“Star stories,” Vegeta muttered.

“Stories?” Pan asked, enthused at the possibility of one of her many favorite things, “Uncle Vegeta, are you gonna tell us stories, now?”

“Yeah, Daddy, tell us stories!”

Well fuck, Mom had told him to get get his dad talking and the girls were doing a better job at it then Trunks could have ever done on his own.

“Yeah Dad,” Trunks added his support, “Mom’s orders to us were that we were to spend the night in here with you, the least you could do is offer us some entertainment.”

At Vegeta’s hesitation Goten chimed in from across the room, “Yeah, why don’t we all sit in a circle, might make it easier? We can wait till your ready to talk.”

They did so, complete Bulla had practically flung herself into her father’s lap demanding that he braid her hair. Trunks knew it bothered his mom how Bulla always claimed that Vegeta was “the bestest” at braiding her and how much she resisted it when her mother tried to do it. Bulma had only stopped sulking about the subject when Vegeta had pointed out to her that while Bulla’s hair matched the color of her mother’s, her hair follicles were still attached to a Saiyan and required different tension and pressure in the technique of it that came naturally to him. Bulma had written it off as a lost cause as she grumbled loudly about “stupid monkey grooming”.

Of course that presented a new problem when moments later Pan was clearly getting jealous of the attention. “Trunks, you to do Pan’s hair,” Bulla demanded. “By order of your princess.”

Vegeta let out a snort but didn’t say anything instead watching Trunks react with some amusement. Trunks sighed, he just knew that he was going to be hearing that phrase a lot. Goten’s only response was to laugh at his suffering, “Hear that Trunks, you’ve been given a royal order.”

“Uh-huh, Marron told me that if I say that then people have to listen to me.”

“Marron should keep her mouth shut,” Trunks snapped. “You are spoiled enough as it is Bulla, you don’t need to go around ordering people.”

“The real question is who does she get that attitude from, her mom, her dad, or _ you _,” Goten said, shoving an arm into Trunks’s side.

Trunks sighed, “Yeah okay, come here Pancakes, I’ll do your hair.”

Pan happily moved over and into his lap, and Goten was still laughing as he scooted closer to Trunks.

If Vegeta had any thoughts about it he didn’t say anything, but he was pretty sure there was another flash of emotion in his eyes, maybe amusement?

He began to run his hands through Pan’s hair, and yeah he kind of got what Dad was talking about, it took him a couple of tries but he found a rhythm in how much firm pressure to exert. Pan’s hair was too short to do any real braids, so they were more doing small twists of her short locks. “I don’t have any of those rubber bands,” Trunks says in frustration.

“Oh, I have an idea,” Goten said, “it’s something I’ve been working on, gimmie a minute.” He was concentrating and he made a small ring of ki before him, it got smaller and came over and held the tiny braid in place like a hair band.

Trunks was impressed, “Can you do multiple ones? How long do they last?” Because those ki bands were giving Trunks ideas.

“I mean as long as I’m concentrating yeah, I can probably do multiples. Plus it’s not like they need to be that strong if they’re just holding hair, I’ve been working on single ones that can hold a lot more strength. Uh, I was thinking they might have other uses.”

Oh so Goten had already been thinking of the perversion potential of these too, _ interesting- _No. Nope. cool it Trunks, mind out of the gutter, his father and sister were less then a couple feet away, he had a five year-old Pan in his lap, and everyone in here had an enhanced sense of smell. Begone impure thoughts, banish thy demons to Other World, now was so not the time.

But he was absolutely going to thoroughly contemplate the matter when he got a moment of alone time, or better yet he and Goten could-

“So Dad, about those stories,” Trunks was pretty sure no one else noticed how his voice cracked as he rushed to get the words out and change the subject as quickly as possible. “You going to share them with the rest of us? Something about the stars?”

“Alright,” Vegeta began, “the Stars tell the story of the Universe, a record of events and entities, and sometimes the mortals who are strong enough to shape it. The only exception is of Beerus, as a Destroyer God he doesn’t destroy planets he erases them, and their lights permanently. He ends stories and doesn’t even leave a record behind. That’s why he is to be most feared and respected.”

“Well we’re doing a great job at that, aren’t we Dad?” Trunks jeered as Bulla grabbed for her necklace of a small gold effigy of the Seventh Universe’s God of Destruction. It had been a gift from the cat god himself earlier this year, Trunks remembered how Beerus had tried to play it off like it meant nothing, that it was just a complete coincidence that their visit happened to coincide with Bulla’s birthday. But of course it would have been rude to leave a birthday girl without a gift and he’d had Whis create it on the spot. Whis had obliged, and laughed at Beerus’s attempt to play it off, instead musing about how oddly enchanting the Saiyan children were.

To anyone else in the Seventh Universe, having the God of Destruction ensnared on a string would have been an accomplishment enough, but to Bulla, Beerus was just another one of the many strings she had wrapped around her tiny fingers. Just one part of the game of cat’s cradle she played with Pan.

Vegeta didn’t say anything immediately, but his fingers continued to work in silence for several moments, till he finally responded, “I’m sharing the stories as they were once told to me, I recognize that certain elements don’t quite match our lived experience. I can’t say whether this means that these old stories are complete fabrications or just distortions of fact, or perhaps it doesn’t matter if they were truths twisted by time or even never true at all, because they’re all obsolete to us presently. I have already personally far exceeded the abilities of Super Saiyans and Super Saiyan Gods than even the legends spoke of. Regardless,” and he finally looked up and met Trunks’s gaze straight on and Trunks felt the menace in his gaze_, _ “_you _ are the one who asked for these stories, and so you _ will _hear and respect them as if they were true. Do I make myself clear, Boy?”

“Crystal,” Trunks gulped. Okay got it, no more snark allowed. Trunks needed to be on his best behavior right now. Goten voiced his agreement as well even though they all knew it wasn’t him that Vegeta was reproaching.

But then his dad started talking again, “My father used to show me the stars and talk about how Saiyan history was written amongst them, of the battles fought and planets lost to them and how the lights captured the changes. It was an old story that you could tell where a Saiyan died, by seeing the resulting star that was formed, the brightest stars being the supernovas that resulted when two Saiyans met their final end together.”

“That’s that kismesis stuff right?” Goten asked, perking up. “Can you talk a bit about that? I mean the older stories and stuff, I don’t need to hear about my Dad. It’s just, you’re the only person who I can ask, you know?” And oh, Trunks hadn’t really thought about that stuff, the other half of the weird relationship their dads had. It wasn’t just that that they had some sort of sexual relationship, which Trunks tried very hard to never think about, but also the strange mutual suicide pact part of it. It was almost enough to distract him from the first time he’d ever heard his father mention his own father.

“Hmm.” Was all Vegeta said for a moment, but given his gaze was on the girls Trunks could tell he was probably working on what to say that would be appropriate for them to hear. Vegeta didn’t say anything more for several minutes but neither Goten nor anyone else pressed him for an immediate response, Trunks had a pretty good idea that the hesitation was to try and work out a response that would be appropriate for the girls to hear. He remembered more than a few times of his mother lecturing Vegeta to make sure any talk of kismesis in front of Bulla was spared the “gruesome” details.

Bulla had accepted readily enough the explanation that what Vegeta and Goku shared was a “special Saiyan relationship” with all the thoughtless childhood innocence that came with her age. Not even bothering to question it, much like how she didn’t question why her father only ever called Goku by a different name than everyone else, it’s just how things were. But how long that was going to last as Bulla grew up was a different question.

Finally Vegeta began to speak again, “It was said that the reason Saiyans had so much ki was because as a species we had stardust in our blood.”

“I don’t get it,” Pan interrupted, “Daddy said everything is made out of space dust, what’s the difference between that and stardust.”

“Gohan isn’t wrong, everyone is made out of cosmic particles, space dust isn’t an inaccurate term, but Saiyans are different and have more than that. What makes Saiyans unique was their innate high levels of ki energy and the ability to push the limits of their strength after a difficult battle. It’s called a zenkai boost and ensures that every time a Saiyan got close to death but still managed to survive they would be much stronger than they were before. That’s where the saying about stardust originates from.

“And much like how when any mortal dies their bodies return to the elements, the same is true for ki. That is why it’s so important for Saiyans to die in a battle while still in their prime, it’s to release their ki back amongst the stars they were born from. If you die old and feeble all that ki goes to waste and upsets the natural balance.

"At least that’s how it was supposed to work in theory, but now we see all too well how the gods like to meddle in mortal affairs and allow those they favor to retain their bodies and ki even after they passed on. But it doesn’t diminish the importance of the final battle. The death of a Saiyan is something that should not be taken lightly as the event records their prowess, their power and deeds and might, in a place where previously there was only void. One should only meet Death when facing a worthy opponent and there isn’t a better match than one’s kismesis.”

“But haven’t you and Dad already died several times by now?” Goten asked.

“Yes, but those weren’t permanent deaths. Now we have the Dragon Balls and other divine magic to tip the scales and allow us to return from death multiple times but that won’t be true indefinitely. One day there will come a time to die, a time where there is no point to trying to undo it as the only thing to look forward to is old age and a miserable end. Kakarot may have died before to other opponents, but he understands that his final death isn’t allowed to be at any hand but mine.”

“Wait, you and Uncle Goku gonna die?” Bulla asked, her voice and lower lip trembling, “for reals? Not just for a while?”

“Everyone dies eventually Bulla, it is the fate of mortal beings. Death is not to be feared but to met face to face. If today is not the day you choose to die, then you must fight to ensure that it isn’t. That is the way of warriors. Only the weak and the foolish desire immortality.”

Goten looked confused, “You know Piccolo told me that when you first wanted the Dragon Balls you wanted to wish for-”

“Like I said,” Vegeta cut him off tersely. “Weak and foolish.”

“Ah.” Goten focused on Pan’s hair and tried to fight a smile, but it was a futile battle. Vegeta ignored him.

“But I don’t want you to die Daddy,” Bulla said, her patented ‘I always get what I want’ voice in full effect.

“It won’t be for many years, stop your pouting.”

At her refusal Trunks tried to offer his own reassurance, "Besides, like Dad said, we’ve been dead before, it’s not that bad. It just means going to Other World, and it’s a pretty cool place, lots of old dead people to talk to and places to go.."

“Yeah Dad said they even have fighting tournaments in Other World,” Goten added. “There was one where Dad was the secret ringer for King Kai.”

“Oh, oh, King Kai?” Pan interrupted. “I know him! Grandpa took me to visit him once, he’s short and blue!”

“What kind of blue?” Bulla had a ranking system of the best shades of blue, unsurprisingly her top spot were occupied by “blue like mommy’s and my hair” and “blue like Daddy’s hair turns”.

“Blue like Whis,” Pan answered, very familiar with said ranking system.

“Hmm, well what’s he even king of?”

“Uh-uh, stuff,” Pan shrugged. “But only the north stuff."

“That doesn’t sound that impressive. Besides, I live in West City, so he’s not the king of me!” Before Trunks could correct his sister that that wasn’t how it worked Pan was already continuing.

“Well he also has got his own tiny planet with a car, and he has a pet monkey named Bubbles!”

“Well all right, if he has a monkey I guess he’s okay,” Bulla conceded.

“If I could continue,” Vegeta interrupted, before the girls got off on another one of their tangent conversations which could last for hours.

“The birth planet of the Saiyans was called Planet Sadala, it was destroyed many centuries ago in a great battle between two kismesis, it split the planet in two and caused havoc on the rest of the solar system in which it was located, necessitating relocation. The event was called the Fork of Sadala and it was a worthy end to the planet and was spoken of with respect on the new planet the Saiyans moved to, named after the conquering King and his family line, that of Vegeta.”

“What happened to the new planet, the one named after you?” Pan asked, “My Daddy said it has to do with Frieza or something?”

“After moving to Planet Vegeta the Saiyans were recruited by the space empire under King Cold, in exchange for allowing them to claim their new planet. It was seen as a mutually beneficial relationship for a time, with the Saiyans make up in making up in both numbers and strength more than half of the Cold Force, they were part and parcel of it. But that changed when Cold’s son Frieza took over control of the empire. He ordered every Saiyan to return to the planet before he destroyed it by his own hand, and with it nearly every Saiyan alive. Afterwards he would perpetuate a falsehood that a meteor had done the job, in order to prevent others from hearing the full truth of his betrayal.”

Vegeta acknowledged Pan’s raised hand and she asked her question. “Wait, if Frieza wanted all the Saiyans to be on the planet, why were you and my grandpa let go free?”

“We were not meant to have survived. My squad only happened to survive because I ignored the order to return. As for Kakarot?” He sighed and paused for a moment before continuing, “You must understand my memories are somewhat hazy, I was only about 8 years of age by the way Earthlings count, but as I recall the story was that a rogue technician took him from his nursing capsule and put him immediately in a travel pod and sent him to a planet on the edge of the North Galaxy. Planet 4032-877, Earth.”

“Why did you make such a fuss earlier during my Daddy’s show?” Pan asked.

Yes, thank you, Trunks thought. It was much better that the girls were asking these questions, than him or Goten, it was much harder to get angry at their childish questions.

Vegeta grimaced at the reminder of him losing that control, “I never gave much thought to the course that pod would have charted. I was taken aback to see it as someone on planet would have seen it.”

“What was so shocking about it?” Goten asked carefully when it seemed the girls weren’t going to.

“I hadn’t realized that the path that Kakarot’s pod traveled to reach Earth would take him directly along the Fork of Sadala.” Vegeta said quietly, like he was admitting something important.

Oh. That was a bunch of stuff Trunks knew he was not going to be able to get his Dad to talk about no matter how much he pressed. It was all to close to the notion of destiny. Trunks had once asked his father about his thoughts on the subject, years back when he was trying to figure out something about how some things just seemed to click together perfectly, made sure to neglect to mention who he was thinking about in particular when he’d asked the question.

But back then Vegeta had been dismissive of the very idea, “A delusion for people who want to believe themselves destined for greatness but don’t have the fortitude or determination to accomplish it themselves. Destiny gets no credit for the person I am,_ I _ was the one who fought and chose to be where I am now.”

And Trunks could see his point, people clinging in desperation to a belief they were destined for more often did ignore what it took to actually get to that end and he very much doubted his Dad was meant by someone to make some of the choices he had. But he also thought maybe his Dad might be a little biased from his own experiences. Maybe Destiny wasn’t written in stone or in the stars but more like an opportunity offered that you had to try to work to seize?

Bulla interrupted Trunks’s own thoughts with her next question, “Do you miss them? Everyone who died when Frieza blew up the planet?”

“Miss is not the right word, more… contemplate.” After a minute of silence where Trunks could see him trying to figure out how to elaborate, he finally offered, “I had a younger brother who was still in the nursery when he died, along with the rest of the planet.”

“You had a brother?” Bulla’s eyes were wide and yeah if Trunks was a bit younger he’d be as openly surprised as she was. Instead he opted to raise an eyebrow in Goten’s direction.

“Yes, but he wasn’t marked to be a soldier. We could read the ki of our children and designate their role in society before they were ready to even walk. He hadn’t the right readings or nature to be a warrior. I always wrote him off, but as of late I wonder what would he have been like if he had managed to survive.”

Vegeta seemed to be weighing his words and Trunks got the distinct impression that he was being deliberately selective when he said, “Siblings amongst Saiyans were seen a bit differently than they are here on Earth, you weren’t obligated to accept your relation just because you shared a biological connection. There was more to it than that. It was often said that the ones you fought alongside were considered closer in blood than ones who shared your parentage.”

Before Trunk could inquire as to what exactly he meant by that Bulla had already barreled on with her own questions, “Do you wish you had a brother now? Do you wish he had survived?”

Vegeta sighed, “No. I would have been a poor brother for him. I was young and foolish, and wouldn’t have seen any value in a Saiyan who didn’t want to fight. And it’s a far better fate that he didn’t have to face Frieza as I did.”

No one said anything for a few minutes after that, while the men all lost in thought the girls were beginning to rapidly tire out, the days events and their usual bedtimes catching up to them. 

But Trunks could see his father was starting to brood more and Trunks needed to break him out of it fast. “What were you thinking about now, Mom said not to let you get lost in your head.”

“What my father would think of the man I’ve become.”

Oh wow, straight for the heavy shit, and Trunks felt a twinge in his spine, as he worried about that. How exactly could he continue a conversation on such a touchy topic? His dad had never, not once, even mentioned his own father to Trunks before now and now he was hearing about him twice in one night?

Trunks wanted to ask some questions but he also didn’t want to be the one to ask it, so instead he elbowed Goten and gave him a look trying to communicate without words, and of course because Goten was perfect and_ got_ Trunks and how his brain worked, Goten was able to pick up on the unspoken message.

“Do you ever wish that you stayed there, like if Frieza never blew it up or whatever, do you wish you got to be the King of all Saiyans. If it makes it easier, we could say for argument that my Dad still was sent to Earth and that you guys would have met somehow.”

“Never.”

Now that was a surprise for Trunks to hear, and he could tell Goten wasn’t expecting that response either, but Vegeta continued unprompted on his own, not looking up from his braiding of Bulla’s hair, “The life I could have had there has nothing in comparison to what I have here. I’ve known that for a while, but I never put the knowledge in the right context.”

“And what was that Daddy?” Bulla asked, sleepily.

“I can’t imagine wanting to live a life without the both of you and your mother in it. As an old saying went, Planet Vegeta was where Kakarot and I sprouted but Earth is where we put down roots. I’m more proud of every Saiyan in this room, and on this planet, than I am for the entirety of the Saiyan history that has come before us. Even if some of them are slackers.” he quickly tagged on with a sharp look at the boys, lest they think he was being too complimentary.

Whoa.

That was a sentiment loaded with meaning, and Trunks didn’t even know where to begin to unpack the amount of baggage in it. He knew better than anyone how his father only admitted to caring for anyone with extreme reluctance. Years of Mom complaining about having to pull words of affection from him was like pulling teeth and even she seemed to get it better than anyone.

Pan was just barely awake as she murmured, “We love you too Uncle Vegeta,” before drifting off into actual sleep. 

Goten spoke up after a moment, “Hey now that they’re asleep, Vegeta if you don’t mind I have a question about something you said earlier, that it wasn’t just you that ignored Frieza’s orders to return to the planet, but there were others?”

Vegeta sighed, “Yes, I was with my - I suppose I could call them companions - at the time. Typical Saiyan squads averaged to be around five in number and that was how it was for us. It was only meant to be a temporary assignment for a few years but obviously became a permanent post after the planet’s destruction.”

“What happened to them?” Goten prodded, “Because growing up Gohan always told me it was just you and Dad, well I guess also that Broly guy off in space too but we didn’t know about him yet.”

“Two of them were eliminated shortly thereafter by Frieza to intimidate and force my compliance to his rule. I didn't make an effort to remember their names and thus have long forgotten them. He left the remaining two live so long as we were all subservient to him. They were General Nappa and Raditz.”

The names sounded only vaguely familiar, Trunks might have heard them once or twice from Gohan or Piccolo but they weren’t a common topic. More often they were simply called, “Vegeta’s old friends” if anything. Everyone was very tight lipped about what exactly had happened during the first time his father had come to Earth, even Gohan had never gone into specifics favoring euphemisms and vagueness.

“What were they like, your friends?” Goten asked.

“I wouldn’t have called us friends.” When Vegeta saw that was not going to be a sufficient answer he continued, “Nappa was the one responsible for the squad when I was younger, as he’d been an old loyal acquaintance of my father and trusted to have my best interests in mind. He’d been the one to request that Raditz be assigned, not because of his strength but because of his age. Nappa had thought it would be better for my development if I had a year-mate.” Vegeta rolled his eyes at this, showing he did not agree with the assessment.

“So Raditz was your friend?” Trunks pressed, if Raditz had been about his Dad’s age that meant they had probably trained a lot together.

“It would certainly not be recognized as such by Earthling definition, but fine, I suppose you could call him that,” Vegeta rolled his eyes. “We were both a bunch of brats and his cockiness aggravated me because he didn’t have the strength to back it up. I’m sure he was similarly annoyed by me, though for different reasons.” 

Vegeta was quiet again, weighing his words before he finally added, “He was also your uncle, Goten." 

“Wait what!” Goten yelped and sat back surprise, and it was a good thing Pan wasn’t in his lap or she would have been jerked awake.

“Quiet, don’t wake the girls,” Vegeta admonished sharply, and Goten clamped his hands over his own mouth till he was able to respond in a quieter voice, “What do you mean he was my uncle?”

“He was Kakarot’s elder brother, though given the age gap I don’t think they ever met before Raditz came to Earth all those years later. Remember what I said about a biological connection not necessitating closeness. Raditz and Kakarot are a perfect example of how different two Saiyans could be. They’d only just barely be considered siblings.”

“Still,” grouched Goten, “why is this the first time I’m hearing about this?”

“It wasn’t anything that concerned you, and that’s all that needs to be said on the matter,” Vegeta said, “but if you have other questions about my travels I suppose I could answer them.”

Vegeta spent the rest of the night talking with him and Goten while the girls slept, telling them stories about other planets and aliens. Trunks couldn’t help but notice that the few of them from the time before he had first visited Earth were sparse of details.

It wasn’t exactly a secret that his father had probably done things he didn’t look back on favorably but the complete absence of any stories was strange. He knew that his Dad hadn’t come to Earth the first time with good intentions, and between him and another guy had even killed some of the Dragon Gang while searching for the Dragon Balls. But that all got fixed later didn’t it? And hadn’t his dad been impressed with Goku and the rest of the Earthlings when they managed to defeat him?

There was a lot that Vegeta wasn’t telling them, and not just because Bulla and Pan were in the room, even asleep as they were. And Trunks was naturally curious as to what exactly was being censored from his knowing. He barely mentioned Frieza and he’d been working for him, and he hadn’t said much more about his “companions” at all, did he miss them? He didn’t hear much fondness when he spoke about them, but what about the one who had been his Dad’s age, Raditz? 

Trunks had many questions about his dad but he knew he wasn’t going to get any answers from him. Well in that case, Trunks finally knew what he wanted to do with his summer vacation.

He was going on a Dragon Ball hunt.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay in theory I’m aiming for each chapter of this fic to be about 5k but this one is nearly double that, whoops. I guess I got too carried away with being able to elaborate on my Saiyan kismesis lore. This was a fun chapter to write, if a bit annoying because Vegeta’s difficult to write when he’s not that outwardly expressive about many things. 
> 
> Bulla with a little golden Beerus necklace was to cute of an image for me to resist. Also the idea of Piccolo reading books on princess dress design because he wants to make Pan happy. Piccolo is Gohan’s Green Dad and that makes him Pan’s Green Uncle/Grandpa, I don't make the rules that's how it works.
> 
> Next chapter is going to feature a Dragon Ball hunt and be from Goten’s pov. I intend this fic to mainly be from both of the boy’s perspectives, with some sections with Marron, but for whatever reason these first chapters ended up really Trunks heavy. I guess he’s just spoiled like that. 
> 
> While these last three chapters have each been published on Fridays, that’s not going to be a regular thing, I’ve just been particularly inspired to finish these last three. I want to get the next few chapters into a decent rough draft state before I get to polishing and posting them, so don’t expect the next chapter for probably at least a month. I will say that the next few chapters are going to cover the Dragon Ball Hunt, the trip to WaterWorld, and finally getting to make some wishes.


	4. I'm Curving Like the Ocean Toward You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want this fic to remain teen rated so I’m keeping all the sexual stuff vague and mostly off screen, but Goten and Trunks do have an active sex life, and this chapter in particular contains mention of them doing so when they were 15 and 16 respectively. 
> 
> Chapter title from “Summer House” by Gold Motel. Chapter betated by Zesparia.

## (Goten)

Goten had been planning a summer of reading comics, spending time doing drawing streams with Inka, and just enjoying the freedom from schoolwork. Maybe slacking on the training with Trunks a bit, as much as they could get away without igniting the ire of their fathers. (Goten wondered if Trunks would be willing to switch up the schedule to have just one sparring session and the other two be more dancing stuff? Trunks seemed to be pretty into the more hip hop style?) All until they met up with the gang for WaterWorld in a few weeks time.

Of course then Goku had to go and decide that he was going to go spend years,  _ years _ , training some random kid on the other side of the planet. Hearing this made Goten want to do several things, chief amongst them yell loudly in an uninhabited canyon for a few hours. 

The most infuriating part was Goten didn’t know why he was so surprised, it was exactly like Goku to do something like this. Goten knew that his father loved him and the rest of his family, knew it with a certainty deep in his bones. But Goten also knew he had a shitty way of showing that love. Goku needed to be nagged by ChiChi constantly to remember to do his chores, even the ones he liked doing! It was as if something wasn’t directly in front of him, he was liable to forget about it and do whatever he wanted to instead. Out of sight, out of mind.

And he knew it wasn’t fair to think it, but sometimes Goku’s forgetfulness would make Goten wonder if he even cared about anything that wasn’t his primary motivation for absolutely everything, fighting. Not like he spent the first seven years of Goten’s life fighting against other dead guys in the afterlife. Oh yeah, that wound was still very much there and while mostly healed over by time and getting to know just who his father was as a person, the scar tissue was still pretty raw.

The only thing that had kept him from being jealous of Trunks for having his dad around while they were growing up was the front row seat to how bad Vegeta had been at it. Sure he had been physically present but emotionally he might have well been a distant star.

Goten didn’t understand why he and Trunks had to have such rotten luck when it came to fathers. Well that wasn’t true, Goten knew one of the big reasons why their luck was so shit. Because their dads weren’t human and apparently parenting didn’t come naturally. It was something they had to learn.

If Goten ever had any kids, which was a pretty big if considering at this point it would probably necessitate adopting, he promised himself he would be a father more like Gohan or Piccolo. The people he’d looked up to when he’d been a boy when his dad had existed as an ever-present ghost instead of a flesh-and-blood person.

That wasn’t to say that things hadn't changed over the years. If anything Goten should probably be more jealous of Pan and Bulla, they were the ones who got the full benefits of everyone having learned how to parent, but it wasn’t their fault they had been born on the right side of the learning curve.

That night in the planetarium with Vegeta had been the first time he’d ever really heard much about Saiyans besides what he’d picked up over the years from the context of it being what everyone blamed for their fathers’ obsession with fighting. Or Goten and Trunks’s own incredible strength. He sometimes forgot just how different being a Saiyan really was. The night had given Goten a lot to think about.

~

Goten had flown home with Pan the next morning and was greeted by an annoyed Piccolo, who was unhappy about his weekly day with Pan being cut into, and quickly absconded with her off to wherever he had planned to take her for the day while Videl and Gohan were busy. Yeah, Pan was spoiled for attention.

Goten started on his chores and finished them at top speed so he could just collapse on his bed and try to mull over what he wanted to do next. He was tired from the night of no sleep, and was certainly going to be feeling it soon, but he also couldn’t ignore that rush in him that wanted to  _ do _ something. More than that, his mind was a mess of thoughts running roughshod over each other. He wanted to take in everything that happened yesterday, needed to really  _ think _ about it, and there was only one way he was going to really do that.

He went for his drawing supplies, he didn’t feel like messing with his drawing tablet, with it’s too precise ability to refine his drawings with that precious undo button. No he wanted something that felt more holistic, so he grabbed for his charcoal supplies and threw himself on his bed. The second his pencil touched the paper it was already sketching away and it took a little before his brain caught up with what he was drawing. It was a picture of Vegeta, or a version of him that Goten had never thought about existing before the past 24 hours.

A young Vegeta in silhouette looking up at the stars on a planet, one that Goten had no idea what it actually looked liked and let his brain fill in the gaps, but that wasn’t the important part of the drawing, it was the stars. He’d tried to memorize how they’d looked last night and did his best to recreate them now. And as he did it he let his mind wander, digesting all of the stories Vegeta had shared and trying to reconcile the boy in his drawing with the man he knew.

It wasn’t until he looked over at his clock later that he’d realized he’d spent hours working on the first sketch then multiple others till he got something he was actually happy with, the shadows and silhouettes capturing the feeling of contemplation he wanted, the stars finally looking as they should. Fuck, he teased Trunks sometimes about his workshop frenzies but Goten could get into ones just as bad if circumstances permitted it. He yawned and realized just how exhausted he was and after setting aside his drawing supplies collapsed into some much needed rest.

When he woke up it was to the smell of his mom cooking dinner and his stomach reminding him he’d skipped lunch. After dinner he checked his laptop for the first time in two days and saw a litany of messages from his friends, but over 47 from Trunks, oh boy. He clicked Trunks’s first and saw an entirely one-sided conversation Trunks had been having since noon, where he announced that they were leaving in two days for a “camping adventure” for the weeks until their trip to WaterWorld. The reason for the trip? A Dragon Ball hunt.

He kept using the words camping as if that word alone would entice Goten into the plan, which just made Goten roll his eyes. He knew that Trunks’s definition of “camping” was very different from his own.

See, Goten actually liked the wilderness. He liked pitching a tent in a forest and being days away from electricity and the indoors. He’d done a kiddie version of it with Gohan when they were younger and in the surrounding areas of Mount Paozu, but he’d gone out on some pretty extreme camping adventures with both him and Goku in the past couple of years. Where they flew to a remote and wild location with only a backpack of essentials on them. Where they actually had to go hunting for their food, and it took some pretty big animals to be able to feed them.

But Trunks? He was a spoiled boy from one of the biggest metropolises on Earth, who wouldn’t dream of leaving without a full capsule case with food and necessities like some mechanical project to tinker on, not to mention a selection of vehicles and a capsule house, all with AC and deluxe sound system. Which, yeah was nice and all but it was hardly what Goten would consider camping. God he’d probably insist on bringing his “girlfriend” along with them, because gods forbid he went a day or two without feeling up the damn bike.

If Goten didn’t know Trunks as well as he did, he might feel cause to be jealous of the hoverbike, but it was because he knew Trunks he knew nothing was meant by it, beyond some weird mechanic’s obsession and borderline fetish.

Goten loved Trunks, he really did, but he also kind of hated him. Hated his stupid arrogance, hated how he always pushed to get his way, hated that he never smiled but instead smirked. And he hated how Trunks knew exactly what to say and what buttons to press to get Goten excited for this trip. Even when Goten knew exactly just what the compromised way the word “camping” was being used, he was still excited by the idea. He’d start packing in the morning.

~

Goten arrived at noon at Capsule Corp with a packed backpack two days later, not quite knowing what to expect with the road trip send off, but it sure wasn’t Trunks in full tilt sulking diva mode while arguing with Bulma in the main living room. Marron’s presence was also a surprise, her attention fixed to her phone looking like she’d rather be anywhere that didn’t involve listening to this fight.

But the tide of battle turned with Goten’s arrival and he soon found himself with the full attention of both mother and son as they sought to get him on their side. Trunks was, of course, the first to strike, “Ten, you won’t believe what my mom is making us do.”

Bulma had her hands on her hips,“Oh stop it Trunks, if you want to borrow the Dragon Radar you have to agree to my terms, and that means taking Marron with you on your little expedition.” Before turning to Goten and explaining in a calmer voice, “Krillin already arranged with me to watch Marron while he and No 18 are away and she wants to go along on the trip with you boys.”

Goten glanced over to Marron who was rolling her eyes but took the prompting, “My parents are going on a couple’s cruise together and I think a Dragon Ball hunt sounds more fun than being bored in West City and babysitting Bulla. Besides if we’re already summoning Shenron, I got a wish I’d like granted. There’s three wishes and three of us so it works out.”

“But she’s just a kid!” Trunks groaned. “And she can’t fly!”

Bulma was not having it, “Trunks you are too old to be throwing a childish hissy fit.”

“Mom, please. I’m an adult, if anything it’s an adult hissy fit.”

“Besides, I  _ can _ fly,” Marron protested. “I mean, nowhere near as fast as you Saiyans, sure, but still. Besides, I thought this was a road trip where you were planning on taking a car and stuff.”

Goten suddenly realized that the final decision was going to come down to his choice. Bulma wouldn’t be able to argue against the combined agreement of both of them, but at the same time if he insisted Trunks would inevitably relent. He could see where Trunks was coming from, Marron was still only 13 and the vibe of the trip would definitely be different if she was there. But Goten also had a pretty good suspicion that the real reason Trunks was protesting so much was that he saw plans of a particularly unwholesome variety were getting foiled. Then again being stuck with only Trunks for company for several weeks sounded like it would get tiring quickly and the more people on the trip the merrier, right? “I say Marron can come with us.”

“Ten!” Trunks yelped as if he’d been struck in the back in an ultimate betrayal. 

“Hah! Hear that Trunks, you were overruled,” Marron jabbed while Bulma flashed the victory sign at her son. Goten signed at their antagonizing, though at the same time the resulting pout from Trunks was pretty amusing.

“Ugh, I don’t even have any hovercars that seat more than two! What am I supposed to do with a whole trip?” Trunks whined loudly.

Bulma rolled her eyes, “You can borrow some of my capsules, I’m sure you can find something sporty enough for your tastes. Here let me see what you’re taking and if you need any anything in addition.”

Oh, that was a decent bribe and might have been what Trunks had been aiming for as he perked up at that. Goten had spent years on the receiving end of long diatribes from Trunks about how overprotective Bulma was about her vehicles, rants that seemed rather prophetic later on when Trunks was even more protective of his prized “Baby” and “Side Chick”.

They walked over to the table where amongst Bulma’s piles of paperwork and half-finished parts she had her own oversized capsule case, and the two started to enthusiastically consult on the merits of the two dozen or so capsules each contained within.

Marron shot Goten a sidelong look and she knew exactly what she was thinking, it was a frankly ridiculous amount of capsules for any one individual to have in their possession, and Goten knew that this was far from the only case either of them owned. Being the family that invented and produced them might have been an explanation but it wasn’t exactly an excuse for how inundated with the devices as they were.

“Trunks wants the trip to be about a month, you got enough stuff packed?” Goten asked Marron.

“Yeah, I have a suitcase with clothes and a backpack with everything else, and I’m sure we’ll find places where we can stop and do laundry on the trip.” Marron gave another look at the Briefs, “That’s assuming Trunks doesn’t bring along a laundromat in his case.”

Goten laughed, “Yeah, I packed up just a bag of essentials but knowing Trunks, I doubt we’ll be packing light.”

They talked some more for a bit, mostly about school and what subjects Marron was going to be starting when she started her last year of middle school after the summer, before Trunks walked over with a victorious grin and clutching one bright pink capsule in particular.

“What your mom give you?” Marron asked.

“Come outside and see for yourself.”

It turned out to be a sporty convertible hovercar of the same near reddish pink as the capsule, Goten knew enough about cars to tell was probably some heavily modified luxury model, though the finer details were lost on him.

“Her name is Cerise, and it isn’t being released on the open market for another two years, of course it won’t be nearly as awesome as this one, Mom got her hands on a prototype and has been letting me help with the modifications.”

“Neat,” Marron said, “does it have enough space in the storage for my bags? Doesn’t look like it”

“Who needs space when we have capsules,” Trunks tossed an empty capsule to Marron, he was pulling out a map from his own backpack so he missed Marron’s mocking as she silently mouthed his words. Goten stifled a laugh and instead walked over to where the map was spread out over the car’s hood while Trunks had started to fiddle with the radar. 

“We know what the road map of this trip is gonna look like yet?”

“Nope. Mom wouldn’t give me the radar till today, I need to figure out where all the balls are first.”

Goten looked down at the map, “Well we at least know we’re going to want to be finishing up near Yahhoi at the start of July, we’re meeting some friends for a long stay at WaterWorld that’s in that area. “

“Huh, but that’s nearly a whole month from now,” Marron said then waved off the glare Trunks shot her before he went back to messing with the radar and started to mark the paper. “Hey, I’m not criticizing, I’m just curious, surely we could gather them in half that time. What’s with the slow pace?”

Trunks rolled his eyes, “Sure we could do it a lot faster if we wanted to, hell if Goten and I flew at top speed we could probably gather them in a day or two. But that’s not the point! I don’t want to spend all day in the road, I want to take time to explore the places we’re going to visit, taking it slow and having fun is the point.”

Goten was impressed, “Huh, you put a lot of thought into this.”

“Of course, I want this to be the most awesome trip possible, even with the tagalong.”

Marron stuck her tongue out at him but Trunks didn’t see it as his attention was back to the map. Soon all three of them were gathered around the finished map and examining the locations of the seven bright orange dots.

“Oh hey there’s one all the way out west near Korin’s place,” Marron said. “That’s not that far from Yahhoi at all, that can be the last one.”

“So we’ll start heading northeast and get those balls first before we move south and westward to finish up at Yahhoi,” Trunks announced. Goten was happy to have an actual plan for the trip in place, even if they weren’t planning on following the itinerary exactly and more playing it by ear.

After a bit more running around to make sure they had everything they wanted to take with them, they set off soon after. Marron had to share the backseat with a bag filled with snacks and declared herself “snack dealer” whose duties included passing out snacks and refusing to do so unless she was called by her proper title.

Most of the first few hours of driving were taken up by a mildly contentious, but mostly friendly, debate about music tastes, and trying to work out a schedule over who got to control the stereo that everyone could agree with. Goten and Trunks’s taste in music diverged the most, Trunks preferring stuff with “interesting” sounds, techno rhythms, and classic rock while Goten liked stuff folky with arty lyrics and more milder tempos. Marron’s taste seemed to be anything with enough of a pop beat behind it, and her music was voted the least objectionable.

Since they only set out in the afternoon they only got a few hours of driving in before sunset, but they had made some decent progress before they decided to set up camp in an uninhabited region about 30 km north of Parsley City. Goten wanted a chance to stretch his legs and get some energy out and Marron had gotten tired of Trunks’s cryptic answers to her asking about what accommodations he had brought.

His artful dodging of the question was answered when he threw a capsule and a domed capsule house appeared that large enough to be considered a regular house for a normal person. “Some camp.” Marron said dryly. “I guess I should have realized we were glamping.”

The inside was an open living room and kitchen setup which took up half of the dome, in the middle of the room was a small hallway that lead directly across to the bathroom, and presumably any bedrooms.

Goten went to check out the kitchen first, noting that the fridge and freezer where both well stocked. “Grandma and I did a big grocery run yesterday,” Trunks said as he started unpacking his luggage from one of the capsules. “I figured if we started to run low on anything we can always stop by a store at some point.”

“Makes sense.” Goten agreed and turned his attention to examining the attached pantry, already running through possible ideas of meals to make. It’d be interesting having a kitchen mostly to himself without his mother’s constant hovering. It wasn’t that he didn’t like helping her, he really loved it in fact, but she was always watching to make sure he did things right on the first try. Never gave him the room to try doing things a different way or to lean by trial and error, it would be a nice change of pace to be given the room to make some mistakes.

“Look there’s even two bedrooms,” Marron called out from down the hall, before she walked back into the main room, “You guys can take one and I’ll be in the other, just keep the sex contained to your room and give me a heads up.”

“What!” Goten, well it was best described as  _ yelped. _ Trunks, the lucky bastard, managed to sound much more in control when he responded, “What makes you think that we’d be having sex?”

“Because you’re teenage boys and are dating?” Marron said, and Goten hated that she seemed confused by their response more than anything else. “I mean it’s not like I care if you guys are or are not, I’m just saying I would want to know when to blast music so I don’t have to hear anything.”

“Who told you we were dating?” Goten demanded, an edge of hysteria in his voice. Trying to work through who could have told her.

“No one? I just, wait-” She looked between them both as if waiting to be let in on a joke, “I’m sorry, was I not supposed to know? I promise I won’t tell anyone if that’s what you’re worried about?” It was her honest bewilderment that made everything worse. 

Goten exchanged a panicked glance with Trunks, trying to work out what their response should be. Thankfully Trunks took the lead, “Okay so  _ maybe _ we’ve been keeping it a secret, and no one knows about it.”

“Huh, that’s- are you sure?” Marron held up her hands in surrender under the might of their combined glares at that. “Hey! I’m just surprised is all, why do you guys feel you need to be so secretive? It’s not like your parents are going to be somewhat understanding? I mean they’re certainly not homophobic or anything, what with your Dads and all. Oh, wait, are you not telling them because it’s weird weird that your dads are also like together?

“No!” Yes, but that wasn’t the whole reason. Goten was now hiding his face in his hands. He never wanted to be having this conversation with anyone, but especially not in the here and now.

“We just don’t want anyone to know yet, because, because people will make it weird and stuff.” Goten stammered out, well aware that he was probably blushing with embarrassment.

Marron rolled her eyes. “Okay whatever, you do you Goten, or do Trunks, I really don’t care so long as I don’t have to hear it or see it. I’ll make you guys a deal, I won’t tell anyone anything you guys do on this trip, so long as anything beyond kissing and hand holding stays out of a public space. Deal?”

“That’s-” Goten began but was cut off by Trunks responding. “Deal.”

Goten looked over at Trunks, and could  _ see _ his brain whirring and trying to work out how to turn this situation to his advantage, probably excited by realizing that Marron’s presence wouldn’t stifle some of his plans for the summer. Which, okay, Goten didn’t know what to do with, so he turned back to Marron.

“How did you know?” Because that was the most important question to figure out.

Marron shrugged. “I dunno, guess I was just assuming. Might have also been partly because of your guys’s ki?”

“Huh?” That was such an unexpected answer that Goten was completely thrown by it.

“Your ki,” Marron said, “both of yours is always reacting, and when you’re standing near each other it bleeds into each other’s a bit. I’ve only seen it happen before when couples were being, like, really close. I happened to notice a while back that your guys’ does it like all the time, so I just figured?”

“I didn’t know that happened.” Goten had never heard of someone reading someone’s relationship status in their ki before.

“I mean it’s not like it’s super obvious, unless you’re really tuned in to ki and were looking for it I doubt you’d notice,” Marron shrugged. “I’m just really sensitive to reading ki, I think?”

Well that was somewhat reassuring, no one else had ever mentioned anything like that before so it probably hadn’t been noticed by anyone else. Now that they were aware it was a thing they wouldn’t be caught off-guard in the future by someone else picking up the same cues.

But now something else was bothering Goten. “Marron, what did you mean when you said Trunks and I could,” he couldn’t bring himself to say and found himself tripping over his own words, “I mean of course we won’t, I wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything like that.”

Marron rolled her eyes, “It’s fine Goten, I’m well aware about the existence of sex, I’m not a kid. And like I’ve said already, it’s fine if you and Trunks want to hook up so long as you keep it in the privacy of your own room and let me know when to play music. And keep your porn in there too, please.”

Goten was sure his face was turning beet red. “That’s not- I don’t read-”

Marron shrugged, “Oh. Well I do.”

“You’re 13! You’re way too young!”

“I’m just reading it, what's the harm in that? it's educational.”

At his glare, she continued. “Also, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but I grew up at Kame House. I was aware of the existence of porn for years. I mean Roshi kept his magazines locked in his room, because otherwise Dad would get really angry, but I was like, vaguely aware of all that junk."

“Well that’s just irresponsible.”

“Eh? My parents didn’t see the point in sheltering me or lying to me, they always said if I ever had any questions about stuff I could go to them.”

“You’re still too young.” Goten grumped, feeling like an old man at the age of seventeen. 

That night Goten got to experience the novelty of actually sharing a bed with Trunks for the first time in years, they hadn’t done it since they were kids. Even when he spent the nights over at Capsule Corp they were always careful enough for him to slip back into the guest room that was all but officially his, lest they get discovered in the morning. Besides Goten always woke up much earlier than Trunks and it was nice not having to worry about waking him up in the morning.

Though maybe that wasn’t as big a problem as Goten believed because come the next morning when he  _ was _ trying to finally rouse Trunks, he was finding it exceedingly difficult. Goten had to resort to violently shaking him to finally get some response from him. “Trunks, come on wake up, it’s 8 AM, the sun and I have been up for hours, time to get out of bed.”

“Ten no, it’s too early, let me sleep in, come on, it’s summer vacation,” Trunks mumbled out a litany of excuses and buried himself further under the covers.

“Well I want to get a spar in before it gets too hot, so wake up already.”

Trunks moved so that his head was now hiding under his pillow and his responses became less comprehensible and more a series of loud noises of pure guttural protest.

Goten sighed and pulled out one of his trump cards. “I’ll suck you off after.”

Trunks’s noises abruptly stopped before starting up again, still no more intelligible though were clearly much less adverse and more intrigued. Taking it as a promising sign Goten continued, “Did you get a good look at the shower in the bathroom? It’s pretty big, I bet we’ll both fit in it if we try.”

Trunks unearthed his face from beneath the pillow, “Why do I have to be a part of the workout, can’t you just go train by yourself and I join you in the shower after?”

“No deal, if you’re not helping me work up a sweat you don’t get to be there when I wash it off.”

“Oh, I’ll help you work up a sweat and it won’t be through training,” Trunks was trying for a seductive look, but it was completely ruined by the fact he still sounded half-asleep and his ridiculous bedhead.

“Come on Trunks, training is more fun with you. Will you please get up.” Goten pleaded with that tiny tremor in his voice, which paired with making his eyes as big as possible, was another one of his guaranteed argument winners.

“Ugh, fine, fine. I’m getting up, just give me a little.”

Taking his win, Goten walked out back to see Marron had finished her breakfast and was poking at the sketchbook he’d left on the table. She looked up when he came into the room, “I heard you coming inside this morning, where these what you were working on?”

“Yeah,” Goten said feeling a little embarrassed,“they’re all reference stuff for some future landscape projects. I was up early anyways and wanted to do capture some of the local scenery while we’re out here.”

“The drawings are interesting, the details are all really simple, but it looks like you were focusing on the natural ki lines of the Earth, with the trees and stuff?”

“Oh you recognized them?” That didn’t always happen, not everyone Goten showed his work to could sense ki well enough to pick up on what he was going for. He was pretty sure Inka was convinced he was a bit of a new-age nut. “Yeah, they’re to go with the photos I was taking, you know you can’t really capture ki readings in photography. I mean, sure, if we’re throwing around big attacks, you can get those beams and balls of light, but not the natural amounts you have with regular living creatures. So if I want to take reference photos for projects later I have to improvise in the moment. I have to do it in the early morning if I want to get the ki of the plant life before they switch over to their day cycle where they’re taking in energy instead of giving it off.”

“Huh, that’s really neat. Do you have any finished drawings where you captured ki in them?”

“Yeah, I think I have some of it with me.” Goten went over to the coffee table where he’d left his tablet to charge after some reading last night. It had been a birthday present from Trunks a few years back, it had a super high definition display and a giant memory storage bank. Trunks had assembled the tablet himself, and had been really excited about the hologram projector it had on it, but those files always took up way to much space which could be better used for some art apps if Goten felt the itch to do some digital work on the go, but mostly it was used to house his giant library of comic files and art reference pictures.

He pulled up one of his project folders and was showing Marron some old work when Trunks eventually staggered out into the room, going straight for the coffee maker like a zombie possessed, before grabbing two of his special protein drinks from the fridge and taking a seat at the table and starting on the first of the bottled drinks.

Goten was very familiar with said drinks, Trunks  _ wouldn’t shut up _ about them for the past year. Trunks had decided that the extra time in bed was a better use of his time in the mornings than eating breakfast, probably inspired by Stapular’s constant preaching about how skipping the meal helped him focus, but mostly just out of laziness.

But unlike their human friend, Trunks’s biology simply wouldn’t let him maintain a morning fast that long, his body needed the calories. So his solution had been to work with his mother to develop the drinks to have in place of an actual meal. Highly caloric and packed with protein, a single one would probably last a full day for an average person. They also had the texture and taste of thick chalky milk. Goten had tried one at Trunks’s instance and was not eager to repeat the experience.

Marron reached over and took the one Trunks wasn’t chugging and sniffed it before wrinkling her nose, “Appetizing.”

“They taste as good as they look.” Goten added as Trunks finished the first one with a grimace.

“Then why is he drinking them?” Why indeed.

“I don’t eat solids before noon, what am I, a savage?” Trunks retorted and started to inhale his coffee.

“No, you’re a highly refined genetically enhanced being with a history of impeccable breeding.” Marron responded.

“Don’t you forget it.” 

“Oh, I guess it’s too early for sarcasm,” Marron sounded more chagrined than Goten had ever heard her before. “My bad.”

Trunks ignored her comment. “I need like 10,000 calories a day, and I need to get them in somehow.”

Goten sighed, “You know you could just eat food, like people have done since time immemorial.”

“Yeah but then I’m wasting time cooking and all that junk, it’s easier just to do this. It’s called biohacking.”

Goten resisted the urge to roll his eyes, “Biohacking is just your dumb term made up for people who are too lazy to just cook food like a normal people.”

“Do you know how much time it would take to cook and eat a regular breakfast for myself?”

“Yes. Because I do it. I like actual food and not your engineered liquid substance. Look, I even made breakfast for Marron.”

“By the way,  _ Gochisōsama,  _ Goten. Thank you for making me an omelette even when you were already making five for yourself.”

“You’re welcome, Marron.” Goten turned back to Trunks who was still nursing his coffee and hadn't started on the second drink, “Come on Trunks. I want to get a morning spar in before we can move out for the day.”

Trunks sighed and rolled his eyes dramatically, “Oh what sins did I commit in a past life to deserve being stuck with an early riser for a sparring partner?” He asked his coffee mug as if it held the answers.

“I’m sure you did plenty,” Marron said cheerfully. “You can ask King Yenma to see your record book.”

“Well I guess that’s something to look forward to doing next time I die.”

Twenty minutes later and he and Trunks were finally outside getting warmed up. Goten looked up from his stretches to see Marron dragging a chair outside with her laptop under her other arm.

“You going to watch?” Goten called out to her, unsure what to think. He wasn’t used to their sparring having an audience, but then again Marron was a lot better than someone like Vegeta with his judgmental glares.

“Sure, why not? So long as you guys don’t mind it. I’m not going to be paying full attention, but sparring makes for nice background noise while I read.”

“You say that like you’re used to it? Parents do it a lot?” Trunks asked as he finished his leg pulls.

“Yeah, sometimes.” Marron said. “Though it’s more a workout for my Dad than my Mom, she really just does it for the sake of it.”

“Ha, your mom is a workout machine,” Trunks taunted. Goten thought about adding a reassurance that coming from Trunks the comment should be taken more of a compliment than an insult, but Marron got the spirit of it. “I guess she is,” she laughed.

And then,  _ finally _ , they were able to start actually getting into the swing of sparring, the warmup throws exchanged and the blows picking up speed. They weren’t in a gravity room so it was more about working on a test of speed than of pure strength. Moving as fast as they were, it would have been impossible to track by the naked eye and could only be followed if one was tracking them by their ki.

Goten was able to start to lose himself in the flow, where he was more movement than thought, not having to think about  _ anything. _ Goten loved that he never had to worry about holding back whenever he was fighting with Trunks, he could handle anything that Goten wanted to dish out. Didn’t have to be mindful of a strength disparity, no he could just cut loose and throw himself headlong into the fight at full force.

Even if Trunks won more of their fights than he lost, it usually came down to him not being stronger but more liable to and simply better at cheating than Goten. Which didn’t even rankle Goten that much anymore, not when most of the stakes for their fights were stuff like winner got first dibs at attention the next time they were getting intimate.

Goten knew he was lucky.

He’d seen the friendly sparring Gohan and Videl did, where Videl was giving it her all and Gohan was focusing more on holding back than anything else. Or back when he was a kid and his mom had been training Goten himself in the basics of martial arts, she had to always keep reminding him to pull his punches. Then when Goku had come back and Goten got to be on the other side of the equation, when he was the one throwing everything into hitting an impossible target that easily took every blow.

But it wasn’t like that with Trunks, Goten didn’t have to worry about being delicate with like his mom, but also wasn’t being condescended to like with his dad. No, he didn’t have to hold back with Trunks because they could both give it their all without worrying about the consequences, they were both hardy enough to take a serious beating and bounce back after even stronger than they were before.

Why was that so reassuring to him? The not having to ever worry, because it was fine, it was safe, it was Trunks. It was perfect, a truth that flowed through them as much as the blood coursed through their veins.

And then of course as the sparring session started to wind down, something else began to wind up. Their fighting became more close quarters and they were grappling more than was strictly necessary, the rush of combat bleeding away into an entirely different rush but one that was just as familiar to Goten.

Then Trunks went for a spectacularly dirty move, and grabbed Goten’s dick.

“Oi Ten, I think you’re letting yourself get distracted,” Trunks teased and the next touch was a  _ lot _ gentler and slower but still had that strength behind it. “I think that means the win belongs to me.”

“You know not every hardon I have is an open invitation for you,” Goten retorted, not sure if he was lying more to Trunks or himself with those words.

“I don’t know, I mean I’m the cause of it, I think it belongs to me,” Trunks  _ smirked, _ and then he was moving his hand and Goten couldn’t help but roll his hips  _ into _ his grip instead of trying to resist. All the while Trunks continued talking with that casual confidence that  _ did things _ to Goten, “I’m pretty confident you aren’t getting hard sparring with anyone else. And it’s only right for me to claim my prize, come on Ten, let me finish what I started.”

“Meet me in the shower,” Goten groaned out, letting Trunks talk him into it like he always did.

Like he’d done every time before, ever since that first sparring session after they’d both stepped out the other side of puberty.

~

Puberty had come roaring loud and hard for the both of them.

Goten had had a miserable several weeks where he was exhausted all day and couldn't sleep at night because his mind was racing, and everything was driving him crazy. It had seemed like in less than a month he’d shot up a foot and a half and his body completely changed over night. He had to get a new bed, new clothes, and he kept hitting his head on doorways now. He was famished constantly and for the first time was eating more than Goku or Gohan. He’d been so miserable that his mother had even taken pity on him and let him turn in all his schoolwork remotely as he didn’t even think he could really manage flying to meet the homeschooling instructor he normally saw once every week.

Of course, this also meant he was too tired to even consider flying to Capsule Corp so he and Trunks had had to resort to instant messaging and calling to keep in touch. Their mutual distaste for video calls had ensured that Goten was not prepared for what awaited him when Trunks showed up on day once the pains and nerves had begun to die down.

There’d been a knock at his window followed by, “Hey Goten, it’s me. Please tell me you didn’t grow a tail and have been neglecting to mention it? Dad said it was possible if unlikely and now I’m terrified one’s going to suddenly appear.”

“No tail for me.” Goten reassured as he opened it up and let his best friend into his room, and was shocked to see who stepped through his window. Trunks was taller for sure, but also his entire face had changed, cheeks less full of baby fat, leaving a much more refined look in their place. Goten didn’t know what to make of it, it was so different than what he was used to seeing it felt downright surreal, but surely he’d adjust?

Trunks seemed as struck by seeing Goten as Goten was him. “Wow, uh, you really might want to think about getting a haircut Chibi. Well Chibi no longer, I guess.”

“Huh?” Goten asked stupidly, still trying to process the sharpness of Trunks’s cheekbones.

“You look,” and here Trunks paused to brush one of Goten’s locks of hair out of his face and Goten was now paying all sorts of attention to the touch, “ _ a lot _ like Goku right now.”

Suddenly the weird looks he’d been getting the past few days from his mom and Gohan, and that surprised double take Goku had given him, were beginning to make a lot more sense.

“Oh wow, meet me in the bathroom with a pair of scissors? Like right now, please?”

Trunks laughed and his voice was deeper now, “Yeah, a new haircut sounds like a good idea, might as well do it now, already gonna have to get used to a bunch of other new things,” then he paused and gave Goten another look. “Wait, are you  _ taller _ than me, Chibi?”

“Maybe?” Goten said, taking another look at their eyeline himself, “Last time I measured I was at 175 cm, assuming I haven’t gained any more in the past two days, and I don’t think I have.”

“That’s what, 5’9? So you got two inches on me. Oh man, this is bullshit, I’m a year older and now you're the tall one? Puberty fucking sucks.”

Goten laughed at the pout on Trunks’s face, “Hah, yeah isn’t it kinda weird that this happened for us at the same time? I mean you are a year older.”

Trunks threw his arms up, “I don’t know, from what little Dad said he made it seem like puberty might be a bit different for us than regular Earthlings? I think my mom called yours and they talked about it or something, because a week ago I got some offhand comment from Dad about synchronization of agemates and fuck all else, which doesn’t actually explain anything and leaves me with more questions, but the fact that Dad’s not surprised means something? I think?”

“I hate that we have to play divine the Saiyan stuff from your Dad.”

“Ugh, tell me about it. I’m sure Gohan’s been a much better help for you.”

“I mean yeah he’s answered some of the questions I had, but he’s as much of a wreck hearing them as I am asking them, so I haven’t exactly asked about much.”

“God you guys are such a family of socially awkward nerds, no wonder you’re all a bunch of mountain recluses.” Trunks was giving Goten’s hair a thoughtful and calculating look. “Well come on, let’s go figure out what parts of your hair to chop off.”

And Goten had really and truly thought at that moment that they’d reached the limit for all the surprises that the changes had brought. He’d been completely unprepared for the revelations that hit him when they’d flown off to spar later. They’d gone to one of the usual spots a good ways away from the house to not disturb anyone with the noise or possibly even stray energy blasts.

It started like so many times before, though much slower and more clumsy as they were both readjusting to different centers of gravity and figuring out just how long their new limbs could reach.

But the real change didn't hit until the tail end of the fight. Trunks had managed to pin Goten, a semi-frequent occurrence sure, but the second Goten looked into Trunks’s gloating face he had a completely different reaction than the many times before.

The rush of arousal filled the air, and it was like someone had turned up the color saturation on a moment from grayscale to painfully bright at once. Judging by how quickly Trunks had frozen and loosened his grip, Goten hadn’t been the only one to feel the surprise. (Trunks would later compare it, in a long rambling analogy of which the general gist, was completing a circuit that was live for the first time.) And Goten knew that if he was smart he could have seized the moment to turn it to his advantage, move a limb sharp enough to break Trunks’s hold, but he didn’t, because he found he didn’t want to.

The weird thing was how not weird it was. It should have been, right? Should have been something bigger deal, should have been something huge and monumental, a moment that forever changed things, and of course endlessly more embarrassing. But it wasn’t.

“Come on, Goten, it’s fine, don’t make this weird. It’s just us.”

And here is the thing about Trunks and Goten, yeah Trunks is the one who leads, he’s the one who gets them into trouble, he’s the instigator and the bad influence. And oh Goten bickers and argues with him, but that’s fun, that’s normal. But the truth of it all was Goten can’t be talked into doing anything he really, truly, doesn’t want to do, and if he keeps letting Trunks talk him into getting into trouble it was because he just made trouble sound like so much fun.

So Goten leaned into his touch, into the rush and the surge of blood in his ears and that weird electric current between them. Let’s Trunks slip his hand under the band on his gi and grab his growing erection and Goten moving to return the favor.

It’s just Trunks. It’s not like it’s a big deal or anything. Not like this is anything momentous. Certainly not something he’d just realized he’d been thinking about for a while in half finished thoughts that he’d never put together in just the right way to reveal the whole picture. It was just Trunks.

So the first time Goten ever had sex with someone else, and it was an exchange of messy handjobs outside in a field during the middle of the day that left them with filthy clothes.

He didn’t know then that it would become such a regular and entrenched part of him and Trunks from then on. All of their spars now had that extra tinge of sensuality, making it an impossibility to not smell, to not know when the other was enjoying the fighting a little too much.

But at the end of it, what was really different? They were still just what they had always been, best friends and everything that came with it. So what if their fights ended differently now, it didn’t mean anything had changed. This was just an extension of what they’ve always been.

They never needed labels and terms. Because that would make things weird, there was no need.

Goten knew Trunks was his best friend, that was absolute, so what’s wrong with staying with that? Sure they were a lot more than that, but that was never going to change was it? So it was better to keep using that term and not any of the scary new ones that could maybe apply.

~

Now, two years later they’d done a lot more since, but there was still something about the thrum in Goten’s blood after a sparring match that excited him.

“Hey what did I say!” Marron yelled at them, her gaze steadily fixed on her laptop and Goten bet it was on purpose.

“Don’t worry, we’re going inside, we need to shower now. You might want to start up your music though.” Trunks called over to her. Marron’s only response was to do just that.

Turns out that the stall  _ was _ big enough for the both of them, but only just barely, and it was a tight fit. The shower only ended after they suddenly found they’d depleted all the hot water. Goten made good on his promise and more, leaving the shower sore in places he wasn’t before but it was a good familiar ache. Maybe a lifetime of love for martial arts, or just his stupid, stupid biology, that had warped his senses because he always enjoyed the comfortable pain of sore muscles, it made him feel accomplished and satiated. 

So did seeing the bite marks and bruising on Trunks’s neck, free from the worry of having to keep them hidden under their clothing from prying eyes Goten might have gotten a little carried away, but Trunks certainly hadn’t seemed to mind. They earned themselves a snarky comment or two from Marron when they were dressed and ready to start preparing for the day’s drive.

The route to the first Dragon Ball was taking them through more uninhabited areas so Goten had Marron help him whip up some lunch to put in a separate capsule while Trunks was working on establishing a rotation of fuel cells between Cerise and the other cars he brought to give them enough time to recharge before the next usage.

Trunks reassured them that he had at least one car that would run on gasoline if it came to it, but hovercars always worked much better on fuel cells and Goten stopped listening and started humming appreciatively when Trunks started to get into why this was the case. Marron did not yet know the trick to tolerating Trunks’s rambles and was looking lost at his words. She didn’t know that Trunks rambled about tech because he had a torrent of thoughts that were racing each other to be the first out of his mouth and that while spoken they weren’t exactly trying to be heard by an outside listener.

It wasn’t until they’d been driving for a bit that Marron hit pause after the last song finished up and asked, “Okay, question for you both, if you guys are sparring like that three times a week, why was Goku on your case back at the Budokai about training more?”

Goten wasn’t going to question how Marron had overheard and instead ran his hand over his face before replying, “Mainly because I’m a terrible training partner for him. Not just because of the strength disparity, even if I went Super and he stayed in base, it’s still terrible to try to keep up with him. But mainly because it’s absolutely no fun for me. I mean I love fighting when it’s with Trunks, but otherwise? I mean it’s okay I guess. Dad’s mostly upset I’m not more into it.”

Trunks agreed, “Dad doesn’t even really try to train with me at all, probably knows that’s a lost cause and just end up being frustrated. It’s better for everyone if it’s him giving up the Gravity Chamber for me and Goten thrice a week, which is a baseline  _ ‘satisfactory’  _ amount to him. He only barely tolerates us giving up one of the sessions of sparring for dancing, and that’s only because we crank up the gravity for it. The things I do for Goten.”

Goten elbowed him, “Oh stop acting like I’m forcing you into it, I know you have fun.”

Goten glanced back and saw that Marron had lit up, “Oh dancing, that does sound like fun. I know that my parents like doing salsa dancing in the city sometimes, Mom says the people who have the most fun doing it are the ones who have the right partner for it.”

That was the thing wasn’t it? It was always about having the right partner, and when Goten was with Trunks, he was never more certain that they were meant for each other. He just wished he had an idea of what they were meant for and what it meant for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trunks is such a techbro who made the mistake of falling in love with a nature boy and if you don’t see the beauty and hilarity in that I don’t know what to tell you.
> 
> So this chapter took me forever because originally it was one big part with the Dragon Ball hunt, before I eventually decided to split it when I realized the chapter was going to be over 15k. So Dragon Ball hunt is next chapter which is mostly done so hopefully will be up in a week or two. Considering starting a tumblr to consider with this fic series to post updates and stuff.


	5. Living Young and Running Wild (That’s Just Our Style)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from “Just Our Style” by the Wayfares. Beated by Zesparia. Dragon Ball Hunt time!

##  **(Goten)**

The first ball turned out to be in the nest of a very large and angry bird who was under the impression it was one of its eggs and was rather upset with them for trying to take it. After several failed attempts at trying to quietly approach and get the ball when the bird was seemingly asleep all they’d accomplished was sending the bird into high alert and Marron had some scratches on her arms.

They regrouped back at the capsule house they set up a good distance away to avoid alarming the bird too much and discuss plans as to how to go about retrieving the ball. Trunks was all for a full frontal assault, “Okay, here me out, we just _ make _ the bird move and take the ball.”

Goten was less sure, “Could we do that without harming the bird, and what about the eggs those could be at risk?”

Trunks scoffed, “Who cares if the bird gets hurt? Worse case scenario we can just eat it.”

“We can’t do that, this is Yellow-Tailed Mountain Condor!” Marron declared as if that should mean something.

“So?” Trunks responded, baffled. “Is it like poisonous or something?”

“No, they’re endangered!” Marron stomped her foot. “And they only mate to lay eggs once every seven years, so we can’t afford to hurt the eggs either.”

“How is it my fault that the damn birds don’t fuck enough to have more little bird babies.” Trunks groaned running a hand over his face, before turning back to Marron, “How do you even know what kind of bird it is?”

“Because Uncle 17 gave me a book on birds for my birthday a few years back,” Marron paused, before continuing, “I don’t know why? I didn’t ask for it, but it was cool to look at. It had a lot of really nice paintings and photographs of birds.”

But her words were enough to convince Goten. “If the birds endangered then we’re absolutely not gonna hurt it, or the eggs,” he said. 

Trunks responded with an exaggerated eye-roll that involved moving his entire head so that his hair flipped like he was trying to imitate one of those women in a hair commercial. “Nature is stupid.”

“You were the one who wanted to go on a camping trip,” Goten reminded him, trying to not let on how annoyed he really was. “Besides, if nature’s so stupid then we shouldn’t have a problem outsmarting one bird.”

“Hey, I have a question,” Marron interrupted, “are either of you familiar with the _ mafuba_?”

It sounded vaguely familiar. “Isn’t that the thing where you seal evil demons and stuff in jars? Like what happened with King Piccolo?” Goten said after a moment of recollecting.

“Now, I hate that stupid bird more than anyone here but I’m pretty sure it isn’t _ that _ bad,” said Trunks.

“Also I’m pretty sure the _ mafuba _ can sometimes fatal on the user?” Goten added, now seriously wondering why Marron had brought it up.

“Yeah if you’re not that experienced at it and are trying to seal away something stronger than you,” Marron said, her hands gesturing wildly as she continued. “But we’re not focusing on that part, the earlier stages of it lets you temporarily stun a target and hold them in place. If one of you just does it for a second that might give us enough time for someone else to quickly grab it and then we can let the bird go. No harm, no foul, and no harming the fowl.”

“I don’t know how to do it,” Goten admitted. Trunks didn’t know it either. They were stumped for a moment before Marron was excitedly checking her phone. “Wait, wait, I think I have a video of Piccolo teaching the technique.”

“Why do you have that?” asked Trunks and when he didn’t get a response he turned to Goten, “Who keeps giving her things?” Goten shrugged.

“I think Bulma sent it to my Dad a few years ago,” Marron said when she looked up. “I saved it because it’s a cool technique. Here you can watch him do it. Remember we’re not trying to copy him to seal away the bird, just see how the beginning of it works so you can paralyze it for a split second.”

They watched the video and saw Piccolo awkwardly waving at the camera before demonstrating the technique while Bulma cheered him on in her ‘parent indulging their child’ voice that was sadly very familiar to Goten, how many times had he heard Bulma using it when Trunks was trying to show off to get her attention?

The technique itself was pretty advanced, but most of the complexity came from the latter stages when you were forcing a resistant being into a confined space. The beginning where you were holding them in place with your own ki didn’t look that complicated.

Marron volunteered to be the test subject and they were able to figure it out pretty quickly practicing with her trying to run at them and them holding her in place. Though maybe they should have tried on a less obliging target because when they went back to the condor the resistance felt was a lot harder. But they were successful, and one mostly unharmed, if slightly traumatized, bird later they had the first ball.

~ 

The second Dragon Ball was in a mountainous gorge. It had managed to wedge itself into a very deep crevice and they’d actually had to resort to breaking apart most of a cliff to make an opening big enough to let them reach the ball.

That was also the day that it was decided by a vote of two to Trunks that they were having a campfire that night. What did it matter that the capsule house had a stove and heater, it wasn’t the same as an open pit of fire. And besides, argued Marron, everyone knew s’mores could only be made on a campfire, they couldn’t get the delicious charcoal taste otherwise. It also made for a fun way to work through the giant package of hotdogs in the fridge. Goten was enjoying his experiments with roasting them for different periods of time and distance from the flames and seeing how it affected their taste.

It was towards the end of dinner when Goten and Trunks had moved onto making s’mores and Marron had long since finished eating that she asked, “So, we’re already been doing this for a week and neither of you have informed me of why you guys wanted to do this quest in the first place. What is so important that you need to make a wish to Shenron for?”

That was a good question, and one that Goten had felt rolling around in his head since they started the trip. When Trunks had told him about the trip he’d intentionally neglected to mention what the wish he wanted to go this whole trip for even was, for whatever reason Trunks was playing this close to the chest,_ probably _ because he didn’t want to be talked out of it.

“Umm, honestly I don’t know what I want to use my wish for yet,” Goten confessed and put his s’more down on his plate. “I mean, sure there’s a bunch of things that I’d _ like _, money, drawing supplies, drawing talent, but nothing that really seems worth using a whole wish you know? I don’t want us to waste a wishes on something we can get otherwise, it has to only be available through magic.”

“Yeah, I get where you’re coming from,” said Marron, and started to poke the fire with a stick, causing one of the logs crumble in half. “I know what I want to use my wish on, it’s something I’ve been sort of thinking about for a while but Gohan’s show just made me realize for reals, so you ever think about just how big our universe is? And that’s only just Universe 7, there’s 12 of them! There must be so many things going on out there, and I want to have a way to find out about it. I’m going to ask Shenron for some sort of device that lets me get connected to all the information out there, like the universe wide internet if that’s a thing that exists. I hate being kept in the dark from everything that’s going on.”

After Goten and Trunks voiced their agreement that that seemed like a good wish, Marron turned on Trunks, “And what about you Trunks, what could the boy who has everything possibly want to wish for?”

“It’s a secret.” Trunks teased in a sing-song voice, the dancing firelight making his shit-eating grin look particularly diabolical.

“Oh come on, I told you my wish,” Marron whined.

“I guess you’ll guys will just have to wait till we summon Shenron to find out,” Trunks laughed and took his marshmallow out of the fire, having completely abandoned the crackers and chocolate and was just eating them off the stick now. Any of the previous intimidating appearance was completely ruined by how silly he looked doing so. After he finished he tacked on, “But I will tell you guys this, it’s going to be _ awesome.” _

If Goten was more responsible he wouldn’t be letting Trunks get away with the runaround but quite honestly he was curious as to what Trunks was plotting and perfectly content to let events play out even if it meant regretting the choice later.

“I tremble in fear,” Marron said before changing the subject. “You know this is fun, it reminds me of the last time we did the campfire, remember on Uncle’s island with all those animals?”

Goten did remember, it had been during the big tournament between the universes that the top Gods had put on. A tournament they had not heard the details of till after it was over.

Trunks snorted, “I remember having to rescue you because you kept trying to feed the Cell Juniors and needed to be rescued when they tried to eat you.”

“I wanted to make friends with them and besides I got one of them to settle on the s’mores,” corrected Marron.

Goten laughed, “Yeah, in between trying to bite you. What did you name him anyway? The one you insisted was your friend even when he kept trying to eat your hair?”

“Nibbler! “Marron laughed with delight, “And he was alright so long as I kept giving him things to gnaw on.”

Trunks sat up from his sprawl in his chair, “You know, I still can’t believe you knew about the Tournament of Power going on while our parents lied to us. How unfair is that?”

Marron shrugged, “Mom doesn’t see the point in lying to me about things. Besides, it’s not like I was going to do anything with the information. I mean I’m not the one of the ones who upon hearing that Frieza is invading the Earth came flying in fused to crotch-shot one of Frieza’s men.”

Oh, that.

“Krillin told you about that, didn’t he.” Goten asked, his voice slightly strained under the weight of absolute mortification he felt at the memory.

“Damn right, he did.” The smugness Marron said it with did nothing to help Goten’s regret.

Trunks even seemed mildly chagrined as he started on trying to defend himself, “Okay first of all, I was a child-”

“You were my age.”

“Second of all, it turned out fine in the end-”

“Didn’t Frieza blow up the planet and Whis had to rewind time to fix it?”

“Okay to be fair,” Goten interrupted, “I think that was mostly my Dad’s fault for not taking the situation seriously? And maybe also partly Vegeta’s because they were insisting on taking turns.”

“Right, dumb Saiyans being dumb. What else is new.” Goten wasn’t exactly going to argue that point.

“And thirdly,” Trunks continued undaunted, “I’m tired of our parents and everyone else withholding important information from us because they think they know better. We have a right to know things and they can’t keep us in the dark just because they think we’re too young.”

Oh, so that’s what Trunks was going to use his wish on. Goten didn’t know how and what specifically Trunks was going to wish for he was confident that he’d hit upon the right sentiment. Goten didn’t share his revelation, but judging from the circumspect look Marron had she caught the hint too.

“Maybe they think you guys are better off not knowing things?” offered Marron. “That or they don’t trust you two to not be overconfident idiots.”

“We’re not!” Goten protested, before thinking better of it and correcting himself, “Well okay Gotenks is, but he’s his own person and has his own issues. He’s even more arrogant that Trunks ever is.”

“Which is weird if you think about it,” said Trunks, “because if he’s a fusion of me and Goten you’d think it’d even out to be less so?”

“I like that you’re not arguing the point that you’re an arrogant narcissist, Trunks,” Marron said.

Trunks held up his arms in mock surrender, “I mean, can you blame me? I’m me.” Goten snorted into his drink.

Truth was Gotenks was a bit of an enigma. Sure Goten had his memories of what it was like when they were fused, but it was like looking in on a stranger’s mind. Gotenks wasn’t Goten or Trunks he was both and at the same time he was neither, he thought in ways that didn’t mesh with either of them and his prioritizes were heavily skewed towards showing off and impulsive decisions. Unbelievably he’d gotten even less helpful since they were kids. The last time they’d fused on a lark Gotenks had completely ignored the reason they’d fused for and spent the entire time jerking off about how strong he was. Which was something that Goten was never going to admit to anyone. Ever.

“Well at least the Tournament of Power turned out alright, our parents won in the end and saved all the other universes,” said Goten.

“Uh excuse you, Uncle 17 was the one who won.”

“No 17 is just your uncle. He’s not your parent that doesn’t count,” argued Trunks.

“Fine,” Marron huffed, “but I had both my Mom and Dad in that big Tournament that Zenos had. So I still win.”

Goten was not in the mood for a parental bragging contest so he changed the subject to a question he’d had for a while. “Hey Marron, why do you call them No 17 and 18, and not like their normal names? They were humans once, right? So they should have them.”

“Because those are their names now,” Marron said. “They aren’t the same people they were before Dr. Gero turned them into artificial humans.”

Oh now Goten was really curious, “So, it really changed them?”

Marron put down her fire poking stick and looked up at the sky. “Yeah, Mom says everything was different after. She doesn’t feel things like she once did, she said it’s like viewing everything through a dulling filter, things have less color, emotions less intense. She says she only remembers vaguely what it was like to be truly happy.”

That sounded terrible. “I’m sorry that happened to her,” Goten offered unsure of what else he could say.

Marron shrugged, “It is what it is. Besides just because emotions aren’t as intense doesn’t mean she doesn’t have them. She still likes some things, like her favorite flowers. And shiny things. And Dad always getting her favorite dessert from this little bakery on Thursdays. She says it’s all about the small things now, even if they can’t make her happy she can still find something nice about them.

“She and Uncle still have their minds and they can like things on an intellectual level. That’s why Uncle loves animals so much, they’re not capable of being cruel like humans, everything is simpler for them. Actually come to think of it, Mom doesn’t like people all that much either.”

“I mean neither does my Dad,” Trunks said. “No one hates people like he does.”

“No, I’m not talking about disliking social interaction or dealing with weaklings or whatever multitude of issues Vegeta has,” Marron waved her hand, gesturing widely as if her hands alone could not account for all of the issues Vegeta contained. “She doesn’t like people much at all, like individually or as a whole, sees them as annoying, self-centered, and cruel. Even the exceptions are still selfish in their own ways. She told me once that she figures if all the Earthlings died out that the planet would be better off for it.”

“Uh,” Goten began but wasn’t sure how to continue, he felt like he should argue against it out of obligation but didn’t know where to start.

Marron continued, “But she also understands that everyone is just living their lives like she is, and everyone’s self-centered like that. So it’s not like there isn’t some beauty in it. Sure my mom doesn’t care about much, but she tries. And isn’t that the most important part, the trying? Being a selfish person and doing the right thing in spite of it? That’s how I think mom and Uncle see it anyways.” She looked at Goten, “Isn’t that how it is with your dad?”

Well yeah when you put it like that, Goku was one of the most selfish people Goten knew of. Fighting was his first priority, always. Protecting his friends and family came next and the Earth was a distant third. Goku was kind-hearted and wanted to do the right thing when it was presented in front of him, but he was a fighter and a Saiyan before he was anything else. Including a father.

Conversation died down shortly thereafter and Goten found himself looking up at the sky and thinking about the stars and his place in them. He was an Earthling, he knew that deep in his blood and bones, more than just the place he lived or the heritage from his mom, but he felt it deep in his soul. He belonged on Earth. But a part of him, a smaller part, called to him from the depths of space. He was made from Stardust and Earth blood and it mixed together to form Goten, the only Goten that there was.

He’d always thought only Trunks could get it, and that had made things easier growing up, having someone to talk to. Sure Goten always had Gohan, but that was a sensitive subject. Gohan would always answer his questions about their father when he was asked, but even as a kid Goten could see how much it pained his brother to talk about it. And Goten would do anything to prevent Gohan from feeling that grief, so he stopped asking. That’s why he’d asked his mother to train him and hadn’t bothered Gohan about it.

But now he was left with a Gohan that liked sheltering Goten as much as everyone else did. Gohan who had always been allowed to be out there fighting, who got to save the world from Cell, who got to fight in the Tournament of Power, and who made sure that Goten never had to face the same struggles. Yes Goten knew that he was lucky he never _ had _ to, but he’d like to have had the chance. No, he was doomed to be sitting on the sidelines _ hearing _ about fights he had to hope everyone made it back from, not able to be out there ensuring it with his own fists.

But maybe Marron had an idea of what it was like too. Not the Saiyan part obviously, but knowing the truth about how strange and scary everything really was. Having to put up with parents going off to fight because the universe was in danger yet again and knowing what stakes were on the line. Knowing how big the universe was and feeling that helplessness at not doing anything to influence it. But wanting to do something about it anyway, even if they didn’t quite know yet what it was.

~

#  **(Marron)**

_ The following transcription is from a now deleted video that was filmed in Age 784 and was the earliest upload to the Godtube channel run by Marron. To those more familiar with Marron’s later videos, the format of this one might not meet the standards of the later ones. It has been transcribed by a dedicated fan. _

_ Video Begins: _

_ Shaky footage of Marron holding the camera out and filming herself in profile mode, the sound is muffled because the camera is picking up some slight wind. _

Marron: Hello and Welcome to Blowing Shit Up With Saiyans, working title, I’m your host Marron and here we are going to watch our Saiyans in question, Goten and Trunks blow shit up for the entertainment of all our viewers! Let’s talk with our first co-host, Trunks!

_ The camera shifts to focusing on Trunks who is surrounded by many bags and containers with hand-scrawled labels on them. He is shuffling them and not looking up at the camera. _

Trunks: I do not consent for this footage to be uploaded to the internet. If I find this online I’m well within my rights to file a copyright take down, I am not a public figure and any footage of me is an invasion of-

Marron: Okay first of all, you can cut the legalese diatribe, I wasn’t going to upload this anywhere without your approval. Secondly, if you’re so eager to get this on the recording, let’s start with what I can do with this footage.

Trunks: I don’t want it to be accessible to anyone anywhere Earth.

Marron: Okay, what if it was on an internet that Earth couldn’t access, you know, content not available on your planet?

_ Noise of Trunks shuffling bags stops. _

Trunks: Do they have that?

Marron: I dunno, I mean space is a big place, they gotta have something.

Trunks: Alright, fine. If you can promise that no one I know is going to view it you can upload it.

Marron: Sweet! So what are you going to be showing us today Trunks?

Trunks: Well I’ve been working with some explosive chemicals for a while and I thought it’d be fun if we made our own fireworks.

Marron: Ooo, very cool. Are we grading them on presentation or destructive force?

Trunks: Little bit of column A, a little bit of column B.

Marron: Awesome. Now why are we doing it with chemicals and not just ki blasts.

Trunks: Because ki’s boring.

_ Goten enters the shot from camera right, he has a hand in front of his face to prevent the camera from filming him. _

Goten: Ki is not boring, it’s the life energy of everything. It’s really versatile and there’s a bunch of ways to harness and utilize it!

Trunks: And yet somehow everything always comes down to just doing ki beams. But fine, point made. Ki isn’t boring, I just think it’s much cooler to blow shit up with science!

Marron: Heard it here first, Trunks declares war on magic and has picked science as his weapon of choice.

_ Trunks laughs. _

Trunks: And everyone better take note, I don’t start wars I don’t intend to win.

Marron: Goten maybe you can compete against Trunks, try and imitate his chemical explosions with ki-based ones? I mean you’ll have to drop your ridiculous face shield of a hand to do that. Come on, I promise no one you know is going to see this.

_ Goten sheepishly moves his hand to scratching the back of his neck. _

Goten: Why are you even filming this?

Marron: For science, this way we can consult the footage after to see who does what better. And besides it’s fun, we already found the third DB today, let’s cut loose.

Trunks: DB? That short for _ *bleeped*? _

Marron: Oh great, now I’m going to have to bleep that. Come on guys!

Goten: You’re bleeping _ *bleeped*. _

Marron: Yeah, we don’t want other space weirdos knowing about them, do we? Can you imagine what we’d have to put up with if it was common knowledge?

Goten: Fair point.

Trunks: Alright, alright. Now do you guys want to see my first experiment, this one is a thermite compound. 

Marron: How far away should we be? 

Trunks: Umm, I don’t know, I’m sure where you are is fine. 

_ Trunks lights the compound’s fuse and it starts sparking into a very large shower of sparks. _

Trunks: Too close, too close!

Goten: Marron, get behind me!

Marron: Oh _ *bleep* _-

_ Video cuts out. _

~

Marron lounged on the deck of the sailing boat enjoying the bright sun and the sounds of the ocean breeze and the muffled cursing from Trunks as he was trying to work on jerry rigging a robotic control system for his miniature submarine. Trying and failing judging by the increasingly creative and violent expletives.

They had known from the start that the fourth Dragon Ball would be over the ocean, but it wasn’t till they arrived that they realized the location reading was on top of a deep sea trench. Upon discovering that this would not be a simple retrieval they’d retreated to the main land to acquire supplies to aid the search, including scuba equipment and mechanical parts for a mini sub. Turns out that the radar was actually not the best at determining the _ depth _ of where the ball was located and they were having a hard time finding the ball, much less retrieving it.

Marron glanced over at the radar that lay next to her, and had it set to the narrowest setting of a 15 meter radius, and sure enough all four balls were in the range. Two of them were on the ship in her backpack while Goten had taken one in his pocket as he was attempting to retrieve the new one with the scuba gear so that Marron could track his progress on the radar. Trunks had decided it would be a more efficient use of time to get and modify a small remote sub to retrieve the ball. Both attempts had been so far giving mixed results.

Marron could sense that Goten was starting to resurface, it wasn’t hard to track him when he was in his Super Saiyan form, he was like a glowing bright light in a dimly lit room. He’d been forced to resort to using the transformation to withstand the increased atmospheric pressure and for its illumination down in the deep water.

“Any luck?” Marron called out as he broke the surface a bit away from the boat and swam over.

“No.” Goten grunted after he’d pulled out the oxygen breather and climb onto the boat. “This is stupid. It’s all just dark down there and you lose all sense of direction. How close was I?”

“Radar said you were right on top of it, until you started going to the right again.”

“Urgh! This is stupid!” He shook his head and water flew out of his hair like a dog. “I’m swimming straight down, why do I keep getting all mixed up at which direction I’m swimming in? Even the Earth’s ki lines get all tangled up and hard to read.”

“Well remember what the scuba shop guy said, about how hard it is to maintain a sense of direction once you start deep diving?” Marron said and offered him a hetab. “Many people even have trouble determining up from down when they get deep enough that they can’t see the sunlight.”

Goten took the offered drink and downed the entire thing. “Well at least I can always sense where Trunks is so I could tell where the surface was, but that only helps orient me so far. And that’s not even getting into how heavy everything is? I train in the gravity chamber all the time, why is this so hard!” He crushed the can between his hands until it was a sheet of condensed aluminum.

Marron sat back in her lounge chair. “I was looking at my phone for a bit while you were down there, the internet says that every 10 meters you go down the atmospheric pressure increases once over, so if you were 500 meters down that’s 50 times. If we’re unlucky enough that the ball really is at the bottom of the 4 kilometer trench that’s over 400 times the atmospheric pressure you’d be feeling on the Earth’s surface. Have you been training at 400x gravity?”

Goten didn’t respond with words but more a growl of frustration. Marron didn’t say anything and turned to look over where Trunks was running his hands through his hair with increasing ferocity.

“Trunks, want to share a submarine status update?”

“Not good,” Trunks huffed loudly and got up to come over to the cooler and grabbing a drink, “I don’t think I can get a piloting system working with what I have. Maybe if I had a week in my workshop it’d be a different story but that’s only a possibility.”

“What about using a submarine someone else has already built?” Marron asked, looking for some solution.

Trunks sighed, “The only people that have unmanned subs that can go down that far are all research institutes, and it would be a huge pain to try to convince any of them to part with one, even for a short term loan. Besides what am I going to say I’m using it for on the request paperwork? Hunting for mystical artifacts that no one can know about? Yeah that will go over well.”

“We don’t know that the ball is at the bottom of the trench, you yourself said the radar had trouble with precision of depth, it could be a lot closer to the top.” Goten grumbled petulantly.

“You gonna give diving another shot, Goten?” Marron asked.

Goten rubbed his face, “Well we gotta do something? I am absolutely not asking my Dad for help with this, I will never hear the end of it.”

Trunks groaned, “Oh yeah, that’s the truth. My Dad would probably refuse on principle, if he didn’t laugh in our faces about this being what we deserve for slacking.”

“Okay, how about you guys use fusion and make Gotenks get it?”

Trunks stiffened and suddenly found the horizon much more interesting than he had moments prior, and didn’t say anything more. Goten on the other hand suddenly couldn’t say enough, “I, um, don’t think Gotenks would be willing to behave, he kind of sort of has a mind of his own. And, uh, he might be more interested in doing other things.” Considering how he was refusing to meet her eyes and how red he’d turned Marron had a pretty good idea what kind of thing had happened the last time they had tried fusion and it would hardly be useful for the current situation. Teenage boys, honestly.

Marron went to check the cooler for another juice when she heard splashing noises on the opposite side of the boat from where the boys were standing. “Hey whichever one of you is throwing stuff into the water, stop it! We shouldn’t be littering in the ocean!”

“Not me.” “I’m not doing anything.”

Wait, really? “Then where are all those splashing noises coming from?” Marron walked over to the starboard side and didn’t see anything until she looked straight down and into the face of a girl looking back up at her.

Marron was surprised, “Um, hello? How’d you manage to get all the way out here?” She reached out a hand to help her onto the boat but the blonde girl just seized it in her surprisingly strong grip and began examining it curiously.

But before Marron could ask the girl any more questions, they were interrupted when a new person burst up from the water and grabbed the first girl and pulled her behind her. She was older, definitely a woman and not a girl, and she had long pink hair. “Ephyra! What did I tell you about swimming off on your own near the surface!”

“But Ianassa,” Ephyra whined, “I just wanted to get a look at the boat and the people. I was hiding from them and everything.”

“How were you hiding! You’re holding the land-dwellers hand!” snapped Ianassa.

Marron was about to ask what blondie meant by that, but her mouth clicked shut when she saw the fins where their feet should be. Oh. They were mermaids. Huh, that was something you didn’t see everyday. Would it be rude if Marron mentioned that? Was she not supposed to notice their fins? Even though they were very pretty? They somewhat resembled their hair color, Ephyra’s were golden with long flow-y fins while Ianassa had pink and orange stripes and more angular and smaller.

Erring on the side of caution Marron tried a different topic, “I didn’t sense anyone approaching, where the two of you suppressing your ki? Umm, you might call it your life energy or presence?”

Ephyra bopped her head along with the current, “Oreithyia always said to cloak yourself if we’re going hunting.”

“Oh is that what you’re doing? Hunting us from the water?” Trunks asked conversationally, as he and Goten walked over to see them.

“We should be. What are you doing in these waters?” Ianassa demanded. “This is a protected area, why are you land-dwellers trespassing?”

“We’re trying to get something that’s about a good ways down in the ocean, we’ll leave once we retrieve it.” Marron offered out her other hand that wasn’t in Ephyra’s grip to the new one, “Hello, my name is Marron, nice to meet you. The boys are Trunks and Goten.”

“I’m Ephyra! And this is Ianassa! She’s my guardian because she thinks I’m too young to be on my own even though I’m not a kid anymore.” Marron wasn’t sure how mermaids aged but Ephyra didn’t look much older than Marron and her hair made her seem even younger, short curls that were a vivid yellow even when soaking wet.

“And you are continuing to prove me right in how young you really are,” Ianassa scolded. “What are you doing introducing yourself to land-dwellers. You don’t know what they’ll do with the information.”

Ephyra stuck out her tongue. “I think you’re being dumb, not all land-dwellers are bad, Actaea was one once and she’s great.”

“Actaea was an exception,” Ianassa said tightly.

“Wait, so, this is a protected area?” asked Goten.

Ianassa turned her gaze to glare at him, “Yes, the trench is our territory, and everything that lies within its waters belongs to our Princess. So whatever you’re trying to get is ours and you’re trying to steal it.”

Goten scratched the back of his head, “Oh, well we wouldn’t want to do that. Would you guys be willing to work out a deal of some kind? If we show you what we’re looking for and you can get it for us and then we can do a trade for it? That way we’re not taking anything you don’t know about?”

“A trade?” Ephyra perked up. “Ooh, ooh, what for?”

“Ephyra, no, land-dwellers aren’t trustworthy, and besides they don’t have anything that we could want,” Ianassa said.

“Well I don’t know about that, there’s probably a lot of things we have on land that you guys don’t have underwater,” Marron said and thought for a moment before adding, “how about some type of food, that’s my usual go-to when making friends. I be there’s land food that you guys have never tried.”

“Like what?” Ephyra said and even Ianassa looked a tiny bit curious. Marron looked at Goten, he was the one with the cooking skills. “Umm, well lets see, what kind of food do you guys like?” Goten asked.

“Meat.” Ianassa said and made a point of flashing her very sharp teeth. Ah, she didn’t get those eating a kelp diet.

“Okay, carnivores, that’s cool,” Marron said undaunted. “How do you guys usually eat meat, do you like it raw or cooked? Do you have cooked meat underwater?”

“If we desire to cook our meals we can use the hot flows,” said Ianassa.

“Oh the hydrothermal vents? You use those for cooking, that’s neat,” said Trunks.

Perhaps Ephyra could sense a discussion about the vents and wanted to head it off as she interrupted with an eager, “I like dolphin and squid and especially octopus!”

“Octopus? I can make a mean takoyaki,” offered Goten.

“What is this takoyaki?” Ianassa asked suspiciously.

“It’s fried balls with octopus in them. Wait, you guys probably can’t get fried stuff underwater, so this will be a novelty.”

“Can we make takoyaki?” Marron asked.

“Yeah, I just need a few things, like the right pan and some groceries, we don’t have any tenkasu. Oh and the octopus.”

“I remember that Roshi’s got a takoyaki pan over at Kame House, that’s not that far from here. Trunks why don’t you go fly over and get it while we set up the kitchen on some land?”

“Also can you go by a store and buy the tenkasu and green onions for me. We have enough ginger I think,” said Goten.

“But I was gonna build a submarine-” Trunks said, Marron didn’t know if he was petulant at having his project thwarted or being demoted to errand boy. Marron patted him on his shoulder, “Well now you’re going on a grocery run so we can make takoyaki for mermaids now. Keep up.” Then she turned back to Ianassa and Ephyra, “That means you guys need to capture some octopuses for us to cook. Octopi? Octopodes? Can you guys do that?”

Ianassa was insulted, “Of course we can. I’ll ask Oreithyia, she’s the best hunter we have.”

“If we’re going to get Oreithyia, we need to also invite Actaea too. Oh! Oh! And my mom,” piped up Ephyra.

“The Princess doesn’t need to deal with such trivial affairs,” Ianassa began hastily.

“Please Ianassa? It would be super cool and I bet my mom would like to taste the octopus balls. Please, please, please?” It was funny to watch Ianassa’s will melting under the onslaught of Ephyra’s pleas.

“Tell you what Ianassa,” said Marron, “we’ll make the food and all your friends, and then afterwards you can tell us if it’s worth helping us find the object we’re looking for.”

“...I’ll allow it for the sake of Ephyra,” she said finally.

“I need a landmass to put the capsule house so I can use the kitchen we have,” Goten said, “are there any small islands or something around here?”

“Yep! There’s one that ways.” Ephyra pointed in a direction. Ianassa said nothing but silently grabbed Ephyra’s hand and moved it so she was pointing 15 degrees more to the right. “Oops, I mean that way!

They followed their directions and came upon a large coral reef that encircled a lagoon. The atoll had sections that were dozens of meters wide at points, and even had some sparse vegetation, so they set up the house on one of those sections.

Goten got started on dicing the ginger and making the batter and the sauce while Marron cleaned up the kitchen and made more space for Goten to work. Trunks arrived about a half hour later and pulled out a capsule containing Roshi’s takoyaki pan and the groceries. His reward was getting to setup the pan on the stovetop, it required tinkering to get it to heat evenly and Trunks baby-talked the stove as he got it working.

Soon enough they could hear Ephyra’s voice yelling, “We’re here land people!” Outside Ianassa was nowhere to be seen but Ephyra had the company of two new mermaids. One had very short violet hair and a tiger-striped tail and introduced herself as Actaea and the other had long wavy green hair and an iridescent tail who was Oreithyia. She was also the one lugging behind a large net filled with squirming octopuses.

“I was told we’re going to be trying a land-dweller’s dish?” Oreithyia said, “Ephyra was very excited about it and told me I needed to capture the octopi for it? I hope I brought enough.”

“I mean that is a lot of octopus, but then again I have no idea how much you guys eat, is it a lot?” asked Goten.

“Yes, I found that mermaids appetites are about three times as large as humans, something I noticed after my own transformation,” Actaea explained, “That won’t be a problem will it?”

“Nah, you’re in good company, we’re used to big eaters.” Marron waved her off. 

Moments later Ianassa reappeared, this time holding the hand of a middle-aged mermaid that har orange coral curlers in her hair that matched her own hair color, and had bright orange and pink fins.

“This is Princess Doris,” Ianassa introduced her, her clipped tone making clear the amount of reverence Doris ought to be greeted with.

They greeted her before Goten grabbed the net of octopuses and announced, “I’m going to need a second pair of hands with the grill, I’m not as fast as my mom. Marron, you can come help me.”

Marron agreed and helped him carry the net back to the house, it wasn’t that it was heavy so much as it was bulky _ and moving _. Marron refused to be in the room till all the octopuses were dead, but she helped with the dicing afterwards.

But the real treat was watching Goten work the grill, first he poured the batter over the pan and it filled all the little round holes, then he sprinkled the diced octopus and other ingredients into the holes to fill each ball. Then they used the poking sticks to turn the little balls of frying batter so that the bottom could get cooked. They probably had real names but Marron wasn’t about to bother asking when poking sticks was just as accurate. Poke, poke, poke, tiny stabbing. Goten was a lot better at it than her, he only needed to poke it a few times to get to to flip, Marron was getting better with each one though. Except for one half-finished dough ball she accidentally skewered and managed to fling a foot away, that one she just wasn’t going to mention to Goten. 

After the first batch had been made and put into bowls with the sauce drizzled on top and toothpicks on the side, Trunks helped bring them out to the mermaids. Marron gave the first bowl to the Princess, assuming she would be the first to try it but Ianassa seized the dish. “Princess, please let someone else try it before you do, you don’t know what the land-dwellers could be planning with their cooking techniques.” She poked one of the balls with a toothpick suspiciously.

Goten was incensed, “I would never sabotage food! But if it makes you feel more comfortable,” Goten reached over and took one from Ianassa’s bowl and popped it into his mouth. “See, totally safe.”

The mermaids all turned to Actaea as if she was the frequent answerer of queries. “Actaea are these how they’re supposed to be?” Oreithyia asked.

“I’ve never heard of takoyaki before, I guess they didn’t have it in my part of the world,” Actaea said thoughtfully. “But I know frying is a delicious way to prepare any food, and they don’t look odd, I think these will be fine.”

“Ianassa, I think I will trust these octopus balls,” Doris announced her decision before eating the first one cautiously, “What a peculiar texture. But it’s most delicious!”

The rest of the mermaids quickly dove in and the bowls were swiftly emptied. Goten and Marron returned to the grill and every time they turned out a batch the mermaids were ready for the next one. They were eating them as fast as they could make them. Marron might have been sneaking a few of the balls herself as they were making them, Goten certainly was trying one or two from every batch to “test” but Marron knew snacking when she saw it.

Trunks played waiter and was taking the fresh ones out to the mermaids and bringing the empty dishes back. Finally around the 7th batch things began to slow down and around the 9th batch the mermaids were full. They still had to make two more rounds so there would be enough for Goten and Trunks to eat for lunch but it was a more sedate pace. 

After they had finished cleaning up the kitchen, they rejoined the mermaid party that was on the shores of the shoal. Doris greeted them, “Your meal was a most pleasing offering, now Ianassa said you wanted something in return from my trench?”

Goten held out a Dragon Ball, “It looks like this, it’s an orange sphere with some stars in it. It would have only been in your trench for the past couple of years and we’d like it back. We know where it is, the only problem is going down deep enough to get it. Once we get it, we’ll be out of your guy’s way.”

Doris took the Dragon Ball and examined it, “Yes it does seem foreign, and after such a good meal I suppose we can assist you in retrieving your ball.” Marron resisted the urge to fist-pump as Doris turned to the green haired mermaid, “Oreithyia, you have the best eyes for the deep, will you help these land-dwellers with their task?”

“Of course, Princess. Let me see the sphere.” After examining it for a bit Oreithyia asked them, “And you say you can take me to its exact location?”

“Yes, though since we don’t know the depth of the ball, it’s possible our reading could be a little off if it’s deep enough,” said Trunks. “But I can take you directly over where the reading says it is. I’ll fly out with you, how fast can you swim? I don’t want to outpace you.”

Oreithyia scoffed, “Land-dweller, you should never underestimate a mermaid’s speed in the water. I assure you I can more than keep up with you.”

Trunks chuckled, “Well I look forward to being proved wrong. In fact, how about we race?” They waited until Oreithyia was in deep enough water that she was able to get a good start, then Marron counted down and they both took off.

After they’d left, Marron turned to the remaining mermaids. They had some time before Oreithyia came back with the ball and Marron wanted to ask some questions about something she’d heard mentioned earlier. “So Actaea, Ephyra said you once lived on land? How did the tail happen?”

“Yes, I was human once,” Actaea laughed, “I was a marine biology student and that’s how I met Oreithyia one day when I was doing field work on some of the barrier reefs. I was quite taken with the chance to talk with a mermaid and Oreithyia was certainly an engaging conversationalist. Eventually she started to talk about me joining her in the ocean and becoming her consort.” (At least that’s what Marron assumed she meant because it was pronounced a lot more like “conch-sort”.) “It took her awhile to convince me but she was rather insistent and I was persuaded.”

“So there’s ways for humans to turn into mermaids?” Marron asked.

“There’s a ritual for it,” Ephyra butted in, “that can turn human women into mermaids.”

“Oh, only women and not guys? I mean that makes sense if we’re only talking about mermaids, but would guys be called mermen?” Goten asked.

“No, men are for eating, not mating,” Ianassa said, making sure to flash all of her very ominous teeth as she said it.

“Oh. That’s well, I mean good to know,” stammered Goten. Marron started to giggle at the uncomfortable look on his face.

“Can I nibble on you?” Ephyra asked Goten, “I’ve never tasted human meat before.”

Doris interrupted before Goten’s stammering could really kick off, “No, Ephyra, you don’t make friends with what you eat and you don’t ask to eat what you make friends with. We mustn’t be rude.”

Marron laughed, “Yeah, let’s stick with us feeding you takoyaki instead.”

They got to chatting about life on land, which was a topic of great interest to Ephyra, she wanted to hear all about it. She was especially delighted when she heard that Trunks had a younger sister and Goten had a niece. As an only child, apparently the concept of siblings was a foreign and fascinating one to her.

A little while later Trunks landed and was very vague about the results of who won the race. Yet not more than ten minutes after he returned he was challenging Ianassa to an arm wrestling contest and even went Super Saiyan before hand. This was especially delightful to Ephyra who praised both the fact his hair could change colors and that he’d chosen to turn it blonde like her. Goten couldn’t resist transforming as well just so Ephyra could shriek her delight even louder.

The arm wrestling contest went on for a while but there was a clear victor and the win went to Ianassa. Marron wanted to laugh at Trunks fighting a sulk after he accepted his loss. “Okay, I admit, I’m impressed with how strong you guys are.”

“We have to be, to survive along the trench’s depth takes much fortitude,” Ianassa said smugly, her victory putting her in a better mood. Goten started up a conversation with her about what it was like to be that far down and without sunlight.

Marron walked over to where Trunks was standing and asked, “You going to retry it as Super Saiyan 2?”

Trunks shot her a sharp look, “What makes you think I can do Super Saiyan 2?”

“Oh can you not?” Marron played it off, not letting on how much she’d noticed his change in posture at her question.

“I dunno, that would be telling.”

“No it would be sayin’.” Trunks groaned and did not appreciate her pun, which was a pity. Marron was a genius.

She didn’t know why he was being so evasive about her question, either he could or he couldn’t, but him trying to get out of the question was more interesting than either answer. See, Marron had figured that he could have done it just from osmosis knowledge of the form from Gotenks. He’d already done it before, on his own shouldn’t be that much harder to do doing so on his own ki supply.

But Trunks was refusing to say, which, why? If he couldn’t he would probably be embarrassed? Daddy issues and the fear of paternal disappointment? Insecurity because the other Trunks from the future was stronger and better than him? But at the same time, that was a simple thing to admit to, even if it was an embarrassing one, refusing to answer seemed to tip the scales in the other direction.

If he could, why would he be hiding it? The only reasons Marron could come up with were trying to hide it from his father or trying to keep it a secret from Goten? Could it be that Trunks could do it, and Goten couldn’t? Possible but overall unlikely since Goten had the same Gotenks advantage. If Marron was a gambling girl, and she was to an extent, her bet would be that it was something he was trying to keep a secret from Goku and Vegeta for whatever reason, probably to avoid being a sparring partner.

Trunks was a much better liar, she might have better luck trying to bait Goten into answering the question later, between his nervous response she might glean more clues.

After about two hours, Oreithyia finally resurfaced and had with her the two-star ball. She arrived in time to see Ephyra showing off what she’d been working on during that time on the shore, three seashell crowns. She gave one to each of them and Ephyra made them promise to come back again some time and bring the girls with them. Trunks and Goten reluctantly agreed, and Marron imagined they were both apprehensive of what havoc introducing Pan and Bulla to a mermaid who was both very strong and a princess would cause.

~

They were driving through the great desert, several hours away from the location of the 5th ball, and it was currently Marron’s turn to play music. She’d been working her way through the “sing-a-long” playlist of songs so infectious and poppy that it was impossible to avoid learning the lyrics after a few listens and even more impossible to not want to join in. The boys had tried to fight against the power of the earworm but now weeks later they had succumbed to the might of the music and were belting out the chorus along with it.

And they were really put out when Marron suddenly stopped the current song in the middle of the best part. “Hey do you guys feel that? Two life energies north of here.”

“You stopped the music for that? It’s probably just some animals,” huffed Trunks.

“No, they’re more like people’s. I’m sure of it.”

“What are they doing out here in the desert?” Goten asked. “There’s not much civilization around for at least an hour in any direction.”

“I don’t know, but it’s weird isn’t it, people being out here? We should probably go check it out, don’t you think?”

“Where are they,” said Trunks. Marron reached an arm out into the front seat and they both took her hand and she guided their attention to the energies she was sensing.

“Hmm, yeah that’s definitely something even if it is pretty faint,” Goten agreed. “Trunks we should go check it out.”

“Fine, not like we don’t have the time,” Trunks said. “But start the song over, you totally ruined the flow.”

30 minutes later and they arrived at the location where there was a truck on the side of the road and two people were waving them down. Upon pulling over Marron realized that the inhabitants were in fact two animal people, a rabbit man with dark brown fur and a red and white spotted ferret lady. They were next to a truck that was on very tall wheels and to Marron’s untrained eye looked rather flashy and gaudy with its overly large tires and chrome trim.

“Oh thank goodness!” The ferret lady called out to them when they pulled over. “We never thought we’d run into anyone all the way out here.”

“What seems to be the trouble?” Goten asked as he opened his door to get out and talk. “You run out of gas?”

“No, the damn truck isn’t working! Can’t believe it, after all the money I poured into it and it just won’t work!” The rabbit man stamped his foot in frustration a few times in quick succession.

“Sounds like you’re up Trunks,” Marron slapped his shoulder, and Trunks grumbled and grabbed his capsule case as he stepped out of the car and started poking through it for the one that had all his tools in it.

“Do you guys need anything to eat or drink? It must get pretty hot out here.” Marron offered the ferret lady who was closest the snack bag and a water bottle.

“That would be great,” the ferret lady said, thankful and took the water and some jerky, “I’m Fendra and that’s my boyfriend Radator.”

“You can call me Rad.”

“Okay.” Trunks said and from his tone of voice Marron doubted he was ever going to use the shortened version of the name. Trunks finally found the right capsule and bags and cases of tools appeared where he threw it. Rad let out a long whistle as he saw the pile of tools, “You know anything about working on cars?”

“Yeah, I’m a bit of an enthusiast,” Trunks shrugged nonchalantly.

“Me too!” Rad said eagerly.

“First I gotta ask why are you taking this car off-roading, this type of truck wasn’t designed for that type of wear off the line. And these modifications are certainly something.”

“Yeah that’s what that idiot mechanic said, but he didn’t know what he was talking about,” Rad said with confidence Marron wasn’t sure he had earned, “That’s why I had to soup the truck up myself. New wheels and a new suspension system to start with.”

Trunks looked as if his soul was leaving his body. “Oh. Were you trying to make it as heavy as you could before you took it out into the open desert?” Trunks wasn’t outright calling him an idiot but the uptick in his inflection was certainly doing most of the heavy lifting.

Trunks didn’t say anything more until he’d walked around and stood on a stepladder to get a look under the hood. With just one look he was reeling back to look at Rad and demanded loudly “What did this poor truck do to you? What could it have possibly done to deserve this!”

“I don’t understand, I souped up the truck with the best parts I could find.”

Trunks sighed, pained, “How about you give me a rundown of all the modifications you put on this thing. Let me try to fix this.” Oh boy, none of that sounded good, they might be here for a while.

Marron turned back to Fendra who was quite apologetic, “I’m sorry for the trouble. We’ve been out here for hours, the truck was giving us problems for a while but all of a sudden it just gave out.” She sighed loudly as Rad began listing off modifications to Trunks. “Anyways, what brings you guys all the way out here?”

“We’re on a road trip to see the world and it’s sites, we just happened to be coming out this way,” Marron lied.

“Well, we’re certainly lucky you guys did,” Fendra said. “I hope you won’t mind me asking, but how do you all know each other, you all have different colorings and I’m told that it’s not common for humans that are related?” she trailed off, her sincere curiosity oddly sweet.

Marron laughed, “We’re just friends.”

“Oh, I hope you don’t think me rude, it’s just so hard to tell with humans, you all tend to look alike,” Fendra fretted, “You all have the same face shapes and ears. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, I mean back in ZooTropolis I have some dear human friends.”

“Oh, you’re from ZooTropolis?” Goten perked up. “The big city built for furry people? I’ve never been.”

“I visited there once on a trip, it was really neat,” said Marron, “with all the different sized buildings and all the different types of restaurants.”

“Yes, it’s lovely! I’m so glad King Furry established it. It’s so nice having salons that specialize in fur care. I can’t begin to describe how terrible the time I went to a human salon was, they completely fried my tail! It’s so wonderful having a city where all the furred people can come and find a place they belong.”

“Don’t some humans live there too, if I’m recalling correctly?” Marron asked, “Or where the ones I saw all just tourists?”

“Oh no, there’s some humans who live in ZooTropolis, they’re just the minority of the population. It takes a certain kind of person to live in the majority furry city, and some people get so strange about it.”

“We know a bit what that’s like, one of my old family’s friends is a pigman that I grew up around,” Marron said, pausing for a moment to consider if she should or shouldn’t say what she was thinking before deciding to barrel on with it. “You know, Goten actually has some monkey ancestry in his family lineage, don’t you Goten?”

Fendra lit up and turned to Goten with great interest, “Oh, so you’re parentage is from an inter-species relationship?”

“Yeah. I guess you could say that,” Goten said tightly then loosened up a moment later and let out a laugh. “My dad’s part monkey, he was born with a tail, so was my brother. Skipped me though.”

“Oh that’s a shame,” Fendra cooed, “tails are wonderful, I couldn’t imagine living without mine. I bet your brother looked adorable with his.”

“I’ve heard stories about it from my parents, but he had to have it removed when he was younger for unrelated reasons,” Goten said. “Don’t think he misses it.”

“That’s too bad!” exclaimed Fendra, and she started to run her hands over her own tail as if perishing the thought of having it removed.

“Well to be fair, your tail is a lot more impressive. Look at how fluffy and bushy it is,” Marron said.

“Thank you, I’m a bit vain about it, I’ll confess,” Fendra said as she curled her tail around her neck like a scarf. Marron and Goten spent several minutes admiring it.

Fendra changed the topic, “I can’t imagine how difficult it was for your grandparents, Goten. A human and a furry together would get strange looks, even in ZooTropolis. Rad and I have enough difficulty being together and we’re both furred.”

“Is it because you guys are different species? I thought that wasn’t a problem for furries?” Goten asked.

Fendra shrugged, “Well it’s more because I’m a carnivore and he’s a herbivore, that bothers people sometimes.”

Before Marron could ask any more questions they were interrupted by Trunks loudly yelling, “Why would you add one of those contraptions to the intake!”

“It’s called a turbonator, it helps atomize the fuel by creating turbulence.”

“No, it’s an obstruction that does nothing but restrict your air flow!”

“That’s what it’s supposed to do, by disrupting the airflow it makes it more efficient-”

“No, you’re just blocking air from getting into the engine!”

Fendra sighed quietly, “Does your friend know a lot about cars?”

“Oh yeah Trunks lives for working on them,” said Goten. “He’s got a hoverbike he babies and will sweet talk to for hours as he’s working on it.”

“Sounds like Rad, though I’ve had my doubts as to how knowledgable he is about it sometimes,” she sighed again and looked skyward, “Sure he’s a dumb bunny, but he’s my dumb bunny.”

“I think you’re exaggerating,” Rad insisted.

Trunks was not having it, “I’m not, you wasted money modifying this thing and you’re going to be spending even more money to undo the damage if you ever want to drive this car again.”

“I bet you’re not even a mechanic!” Rad insisted before dropping the goldmine of a line when he continued, “I see the way your legs flex in your too tight pants, you only get thighs like that when your day job is working on a pole.”

“...Are you insinuating I’m a stripper?” Trunks was incredulous but edged with delight at such a claim. Marron perked up at the change in conversation and Goten resorted to hiding his face in his hands.

Fendra interrupted, “There is nothing wrong with being a stripper! I say if people want to pay you for getting naked, well you can make good money doing that.”

“I agree with you, but alas the point is moot,” Marron said to Fendra, “Fortunately for the rest of us, Trunks’s exhibitionism doesn’t include getting naked in public.”

“I think you’re just trying to up-charge me,” Rad said stubbornly.

“Hardly, I’m doing this as a courtesy,” Trunks scoffed. “You couldn't afford to pay my rates, be it for work in your truck or me taking my pants off.”

Goten had finally taken his face out of his hands, “Why would you think he’s a stripper!”

“With thighs like those how can I not.”

“We do martial arts!” Goten yelled.

Fendra interrupted, “Rad, you need to hang out with humans who aren't strippers. Just because that’s what Natalie’s thighs look like doesn’t mean that every human whose got similar thigh muscles got them pole-dancing.”

Trunks shut the lid on the hood and stepped down, “This poor truck has been abused and gone through enough horrors already and saving it would involve hours of work stripping down all these asinine modifications. Which I have neither the time nor the inclination to do right now. Your best bet is to put it in a capsule and take it to a mechanic who actually knows what they’re doing to fix it.”

“We still need to help them,” Goten said.

Trunks ran his hand through his hair, “Alright, I will _ loan _them one of my capsules.” He pulled out two capsules and was about to give them to Rad when he stopped and thought better of it and instead handed them to Fendra. “The yellow one is empty and the green one will get you back to civilization. Once you’re there you better return it to the local Capsule Corp office to have it forwarded back to me.”

Fendra thanked them immensely while Rad was pouting next to her, she hit him in the shoulder when he had started to protest and he shut up. Once they were assured that Rad and Fendra’s loaned jeep was in working order, they took off in the opposite direction.

~

Marron looked into the backpack next to her in the back seat, they had five Dragon Balls in it, they were only missing the one-star and six-star ones now. Trunks’s earlier efforts this morning to put them in a capsule had failed and he was still pouting about it as he drove them across the Great Bay. He was flying at the car’s top speed but even still it was an hour of flying across nothing but open water, and quite frankly Marron was rather done with seeing nothing around but water.

Goten might have been getting similarly twitchy because he was messing with the Dragon Radar in the front seat, comparing it to their road map. “Okay so I think the maps wrong now? The next ball is not where you marked it, it’s moved westward.”

“Someone’s moving it? Who would be gathering them?” asked Trunk worriedly, someone else gathering Dragon Balls could mean many number of possible scenarios, many of them worthy of concern. Was Frieza back again?

“Here, let me see it,” Marron reached for the radar, “huh, those are the coordinates of Uranai Baba’s place.”

“Oh,” Trunks sighed with relief, Baba was something he knew personally and how to handle, not potential new person or threat.

“Maybe someone took it to her?” Goten offered.

Marron nodded, “Makes sense, I bet someone found it and tried to barter for a fortune telling by trading it instead of paying her fee.”

“Okay are the coordinates that far off from where I’m headed?” asked Trunks. Marron reassured him he was doing fine and they could reorientate on the other side of the Bay. They ended up taking a detour to go to some area the boys vaguely recalled from when they fought Majin Buu as kids. They camped out there and the next morning headed over to the Fortuneteller desert palace.

When they arrived in the late morning they found a queue of people who had been in lines for hours hoping to get their fortunes told. Shrugging, they took their place at the end of the line, with the people before them shooting them not so subtly smug looks about being ahead.

After a few minutes a little ghost in a conical straw hat and reading a clipboard floated over to greet them in a fake cheery voice. “Hello and Welcome to the Fortuneteller Baba’s where ‘a Fortune Read Today Averts Catastrophes Tomorrow’ how may I help you?”

“Can you tell Baba we stopped by? She knows us.” Trunks said.

The ghost lowered it’s clipboard. “Oh. It’s you.” His voice had lost all the false enthusiasm. “I’ll send her a message you’ve arrived. It’s probably going to take awhile, she’ll see you on her lunch break. You can wait inside.”

Rich dude next to them was most upset at their cutting in line and protested loudly as they walked past the line. Marron made sure to flash him the victory sign.

They waited in a room with chairs that were overstuffed and lots of pictures of witchy cats on the walls. Dracula poked in and ended up staying a bit, he was a pleasant conversationist, he only asked if he could taste their blood twice. Trunks was nearly convinced to let him do it out of curiosity as to how he’d react to Saiyan Blood, would it wire him up or maybe be poisonous to him? The possibilities were enticing. But that plan was scrapped when it was realized Marron wouldn’t be able to film Dracula with her phone to study for later, and if they couldn’t properly document the experiment, there was no point.

Soon enough they were interrupted when Baba floated into the room atop her ball, hopped off it and took the chair behind the desk. “Oh, so you finally decided to show up? Are you here for the Dragon Ball I have?”

“Well that was easy, were you expecting us?” Marron asked. “Did you see it in your ball?” Goten added.

Baba huffed, “I don’t need my ball to tell me what I can discover using common deduction. You brats are always so predictable, trying to use magic to fix the mistakes you make.” Then like she couldn’t help herself and added, “Besides my brother phoned me to tell me you were looking for them and stole his takoyaki pan.” Yeah, that would do it.

“So you do have it?” Goten pressed.

“Yes, a man brought it to me to barter for his fortune, knocked 5 million off his price. Knew someone would eventually show up for it, figured I could extort Bulma Briefs for it whenever she came around,” Baba said wistfully.

“Well I’m here instead, and I think I’d rather try my hand at the martial challenge.” Trunks cracked his knuckles in a manner meant to be menacing but Baba utterly unaffected. “Oh stop with your little muscle show you little miscreant, I’m not withholding the ball from you, in fact you can very well have it. I know how to read a forgone conclusion when I see one.”

Oh was it really going to be that easy? “You’re not going to ask what we’re going to use our wishes for to make sure they’re worthy?” Marron asked.

Baba snorted, “No, I don’t care what you whippersnappers are getting up to, that’s your business. Besides, I already know what you’re going to wish for, _ that _ I have seen in my ball.”

“Well then you already know more than me,” Goten scratched the back of his head. “I haven’t figured out what I want to wish for yet.”

“You will.” Baba didn’t elaborate more beyond that.

“Well maybe I still wanna fight,” said Trunks, pouting and crossing his arms. “I heard my mom and Krillin talking about it once, maybe I want a turn to fight your zombie guys.”

“You did not come here to fight my warriors of the dead.” Baba sounded so very done.

“No, but I’m not opposed to doing so.”

“Alright, listen here you little brat, I’ll even throw in a free reading for each of you, so long as you scram and get out of my hair.”

“Sweet, free question.” Trunks turned to them, clearly eager for praise for his cleverness. He was disappointed when instead Goten admonished him. **“**Trunks, you shouldn’t bully people, especially little old ladies.”

“Who you calling old, I am 664 years young!” Baba snapped at Goten. “And your beau can try to bully me but he’ll find I’ve dealt with far more impressive forces than you kids, I’m not going to be done in by his preening and peacocking. He can try and intimidate me, he’ll fail but he’s free to try.”

Okay, Marron was going to interrupt this before Trunks resorted to literally flexing in front of Baba. And before they reacted to Baba knowing about them. “What should I get my mom for her birthday?” At Goten’s incredulous face she addded, “What? She’s impossible to shop for.” It was a perfectly good usage of her question.

Baba snapped her fingers and the ball floated over to the desk, plopping in front of her, she gazed into for a moment before answering, “Those Rascal Rabbit’s Dark Chocolate and Salted Caramel Moon Pies are going to be quietly discontinued in a few months time.”

“Oh no, Mom loves those, I’ll have to buy a whole bunch.” This was bad news, she’d have to tell her father right away. Maybe they could order a pallet of them and surprise her mother with them once she found out about them being discontinued.

“Well I have a question for your great and mighty wisdom oh most powerful and impressive witch,” Trunks began and Marron was already rolling her eyes. “Why wouldn’t the Dragon Balls fit in capsules when I tried earlier?”

Baba ignored his sarcasm and gazed into her ball, “Because they are orbs of powerful magic by the planet’s God that interfere with the capsule’s effective field.”

“That’s stupid, all kinds of things can go in capsules, magical or not, why can’t dragon balls?”

“Don’t argue with me boy, I am an expert on magics that you know nothing of.”

“Yeah well, magic is just a bullshit excuse to explain away science that isn’t understood yet.”

“Careful there little heretic, you know better than most that mortals should fear and respect the powers of magic and gods.”

Trunks made a face, “Gods are different, besides all they are is just another kind of person with their own type of power. I mean my dad’s a god, kinda, and all he does is use it for fighting, it’s just like another transformation.”

Baba looked at Trunks like he was an idiot, “I don’t know how it’s fallen for me to be the one to inform you that your father should not be held up as a model example of anything. Including divinity.”

Goten sighed loudly and Marron started to giggle as Trunks was ready to continue his debate about magic with the witch.

Finally Goten interrupted, “Well I got a question for your precognition Baba? If we leave these Dragon Balls with you for a week will they be safe? It’s time for us to meet up with our friends for a planned trip to WaterWorld and we don’t want them around in case they ask questions, and if we can’t put them in a capsule...”

Baba looked at Goten with narrowed eyes before turning back to her ball, “Yes, they will be safe with me until you chose to return for them.”

“Okay well that at least solves that problem.” Goten said.

“And now for the other one,” Trunks finished looking at Marron.

“You guys aren’t sending me home before we complete the hunt, I guess I’m coming along to WaterWorld.” Marron crossed her arms.

“Yeah but our friends from high school are going to be there,” said Goten. “And they don’t know about any of this junk.” He waved his hands around, presumably both Baba and the Dragon Balls were included in “this junk”.

“I can keep secrets. Besides I already met one of them at the Tournament, Trunks don’t you remember. I played it cool with her.”

“Yeah...” Trunks sighed. “Okay so long as you know when to keep your mouth shut you can come along.”

“Yay! WaterWorld, here we come!” Marron cheered. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want the records to show I probably put more thought into this road trip than Toriyama would have, I even consulted a map of the Dragon Ball Earth from Daizenshuu 4.
> 
> While Battle of the Gods and Return of F are far better than the tv series adaptions of the stories, I did like the part where Gotenks came roaring in like an idiot. So I had to include that in this canon.
> 
> All mermaid names were taken from the wiki page of list of Nereids, including Doris. Mermaids do canonically exist in Dragon Ball. Back in OG Dragon Ball days to get Roshi to train him Goku needs to find a pretty girl. (Yes, I know, I cringe too.) He finds a mermaid and a weightlifter, because this is Goku and he judges attractiveness based almost entirely on who could break him in half. Oh, Goku. 
> 
> Car couple is named after two car-related words I found. And I hope you enjoyed my tangent about where all the animal people in DBZ went because I sure enjoyed coming up with an explanation. 
> 
> Overall this was a chapter about enjoying how weird the Earth can be in this series while also giving the three of them time to bond. I enjoyed creating different species and dating traditions of them to add some variety to the series. Dragon Ball is all about a vast array of Freaks and Geeks and I don’t want Saiyans to be the only ones with weird romance traditions.
> 
> If you want chapters faster please leave a kudos or a comment, they really do fuel my drive to write. Say what you liked, didn’t liked, or what you’re looking forward to. (Raditz will be wished back in Chapter 7.) Hopefully next chapter isn’t going to be another 12k beast. Hoping to have it up in early February.


	6. When We Live Such Fragile Lives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from “Dirty Little Secret” by All-American Rejects. Betaed by Zesparia.

##  **(Goten)**

The next day involved several hours of driving to get from Uranai Baba’s up to Yahhoi, but they still arrived before check-in time so they decided to go spend the time on the beach before everyone else arrived. WaterWorld was both the name of the resort and the attached waterpark, though most people often used the name to only refer to the latter. Which was easy to see why, it was quite an impressive park, boasting of numerous attractions including the tallest water slide on Earth, Perilous Plunge.

The resort saw less attendance, aiming to go for the premier guests with it’s large hotel and even more exclusive villas. The general public meanwhile tended to stay at hotels that were a bit further away but much cheaper. There was even a private beach that was restricted to guests staying at the resort, and they had to talk to the front desk before they were allocated wristbands with access chips to go down to the beach.

The three of them changed into their swimwear in the restrooms and hit the beach while waiting for the rest of their friends to arrive.

“Do you guys want to put on some sunblock?” Marron asked as she started to put some on her shoulders.

“Don’t need it,” said Trunks. “Suns not strong enough to pose a threat to me.”

“Yeah,” Goten added, “I’ve spent all day out with Dad in the fields and we never got burned.”

“Well back on Earth, us mere Earthlings require sunblock,” Marron huffed then waved the tube in front of Goten, “help me put it on my back.”

“I’ve never been to WaterWorld before, is the park any fun?” Marron asked as Goten helped her.

“Eh, it was okay,” Trunks said. “The big slides were alright, but, well, you know...” he trailed off, not finishing the thought but Marron seemed to have understood the gist. “Not much that could offer you a thrill ride?”

“Nope.” Trunks said, making sure to pop the ‘p’ as he did so. “But it can be fun if you’re here with the right kind of people. When I was here as a kid with my parents it was alright.”

“Well now you guys are going to be here with your friends from school, will they be the right kind to make up for the lackluster thrills?”

“Our friends are great,” Goten protested.

“Yeah, they’re cool, and _ you,” _Trunks flicked Marron on her forehead, “need to not be an annoying kid when they get here.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll leave you _ adults _ to it,” she snarked as she put on her oversized sunglasses. “I’m going to go see if I can find any tide pools.”

She wandered off, and Goten shot a message in the group chat telling everyone where to meet and how to get down to the beach before he put his phone down and he and Trunks wadded into the ocean. This beach had a well known big craggily rock that stood out in the middle of the harbor, and they started racing laps to see who could go the most times between it and the shore.

Goten was passing Trunks and was swimming in when they heard Krayron’s voice calling from the shore. “TRUNKS! GOTEN!”

“Oh hey, they’re finally here,” said Trunks as he continued back out to the harbor, “you go on ahead, I’ll catch up in a second, I need to finish this lap.”

Goten could see the four of them standing on the beach, and he waved back to them as he approached the shore. They were all standing in a group and Calcula had a ridiculous sun hat on.

“Hey, glad to see you guys, it’s been a while,” Goten called as he walked onto the shore. But he didn’t get the greetings he expected, instead they were all staring at him as he approached? Goten wasn’t sure what was going on until Stapular blurted out,“Holy shit you are _ ripped _.”

Goten immediately felt himself begin to blush at he realized what they must have all been looking at. Was this the first time they were seeing him without a shirt on? He wasn’t usually this self conscious but this was making him uncomfortable, maybe he should run back inside and put on a shirt.

“Uh yeah, you know, Satan’s Dojo has a strict training regimen, you guys know martial arts was a big deal for us,” Goten said, scratching the back of his head and trying for a way to casually divert the subject. Might not have the best move because he could _ see _ Calcula’s eyes follow the movement of his arm and pectorals as he stretched his arm. He quickly dropped his hand and decided to cross his arms instead.

“No, I knew you worked out a lot and were fit, I wasn’t expecting you to have an_ 8-pack _ at seventeen,” said Inka incredulously, but Goten could see a gleam in her eyes. “I could use you as a model for my muscle studies. Why have you been keeping this a secret?”

“Wasn’t like it was a secret, just didn’t seem worth bringing up,” Goten shrugged.

The only thing that seemed to prevent Calcula from staring at Goten’s impressive muscles was when she shifted her gaze over to Trunks who had finally swam up. Yay.

“Oh, and of course it’s not just you,” Krayron said with a huff before whining, “Trunks, why didn’t you ever mention you guys were this swole?”

“I guess it hadn’t come up,” he said with a shrug. Goten hated how comfortable Trunks was with the attention, like he didn’t feel their gazes judging him like a piece of meat. It wasn’t fair. But at the same time he was thankful that Trunks was helping divert the attention.

Goten could _ feel _ Inka’s eyes on his abs. If it were anyone else Goten might have thought she was checking him out but Goten was pretty sure the only lewd thoughts in Inka’s mind were abusing her pencils as she scribbled sketch after sketch. Yeah, there was no way he was going to be getting out of doing modeling practice with her after this. Sigh.

They chatted for a few more minutes catching up when Marron finally walked over to see them. “Are you guys going to introduce me to your friends or not?”

“Who are you?” Inka asked curiously.

“This is Marron, we mentioned her in the chat, she was on the road trip with us,” Goten explained.

“Oh!” Calcula said suddenly recalling, “You’re the girl I met at the Tournament, the one who was an old family friend?”

“Yup, that’s me,” said Marron. Wait, Calcula me Marron at the Budokai? Goten thought Calcula had left after she’d seen it was sold out.

“Yeah, my mom made us bring her along for the summer,” Trunks put on a show of rolling his eyes. “Her parents are off doing a couple’s cruise and dumped us with Marron.”

“Ah man, our graduation trip is being crashed by a kid,” Stapular complained.

“Hey that kid is standing right here, and I’m not going to be the one to stop you from doing your ‘adult’ things. Besides you guys are probably a little too slow for my speed anyways,” Marron said with a scoff.

“Oh ho ho,” Krayron laughed, “well at least she’s got sass.”

Inka looked thoughtful, “Is this all a clever ploy by Goten to no longer be the group’s baby.” 

Goten perked up at that. “If it was, is it working?” he asked hopefully.

Inka patted him on the arm, “Nope! You’re always going to be the baby, it’s your fate.”

“How is Marron going to affect the rooming situation?” asked Stapular.

“The Villa I got has three bedrooms, two beds in each room, obviously we’ll do Calcula and Inka, me and Goten, you and Krayron,” said Trunks before he thought for a moment, “I think the couch in the main room is a fold out, Marron can take that.”

“And hey if it’s a regular couch I’m cool with that too.”

“We could always have a rollout brought up to mine and Calcula’s bedroom. Keep Marron from having to stay on the couch,” said Inka.

“Yeah I guess that will work,” Calcula sighed. “Serious question, we’re not going to have to like hide the alcohol from you are we? I was not planning on spending this week sober and I do not want to have to be the responsible adult now of all times. Drinking Age is 17 in Yahhoi, which means even Goten can indulge.”

“And miss the opportunity to watch drunk Goten and Trunks make fools out of themselves, are you joking? Don’t worry, I’ll stay away from all intoxicants but feel free to indulge amongst yourselves.”

“I’m holding you to that Marron,” warned Goten.

Soon enough it was time to check in to their villa and there was much running around and checking out the accommodations of their place. There was a living and dining room with a giant tv and media center and an in-room jacuzzi. Off of the main room where four doors leading to three bedrooms and the smallest bathroom, with two of the bedrooms coming with attached bathrooms. Trunks promptly called dibs on the master bedroom while the girls got the other bedroom that came with a bathroom. Krayron had to settle for putting his hair care supplies in the smallest bathroom off the main room.

There was a very small kitchen off the dining room which, thankfully, had a full-sized fridge. Inka and Krayron had been in charge of buying food and booze for the week, with everyone chipping in. (Trunks had to pay in a disproportionate amount to cover the food for him and Goten, Goten had rolled his eyes when he read the incredulous texts from them about how much food was being requested.) Stapular meanwhile had gotten some weed from his older brother who grew the stuff and was setting up a bong as they started unpacking.

After they had finished settling in the party began to kick off with the first round of drinks and everyone sharing stories about their summer vacation. Krayron was enjoying being the stars of the show as he regaled them with stories of acting camp and the efforts to stay in shape when everyone had been smuggling in sweets, “Everyone had emergency pastries and candy, my diet was under constant threat. People took the fact I was trying to stay in shape as a personal challenge.”

Calcula had gotten a part time retail job at a bookstore to save up money for college and had much to complain about sticky children who had been dropped off by negligent parents, “It’s a bookstore, not a daycare center!”

Inka had gone to a nerd convention to table for artist alley, and had dragged Stapular along, because Goten couldn’t make it and Stapular needed social interaction that wasn’t streaming games online. Somehow at the con, Stapular had gotten the number of a cosplayer and had apparently been in contact since. Otherwise Stapuar had spent most of his time occupied hosting video game livestreams. He was even in talks to a recruiter for a pro gaming team.

Meanwhile Goten, Trunks, and Marron shared their trip and all the sights they’d seen and the weird people they’d run into, with some edits and omissions. Goten had been texting people photos he’d been taking on the trip and Calcula had been the most reliable responder, always eager for the break of the monotony of her job. She’d been providing commentary throughout the trip.

In between working the blender to make drinks, Trunks had been showing off some of his gizmos that he’d been tinkering with during the time they were in school and over the road trip. Most of the inventions were novelties that did not warrant the amount of time and resources he’d put into them, but that was Trunks. Goten had shown some of the sketches he’d been doing, and all the reference photos he took that he was going to use for some inspiration. Marron had taken a bunch of videos on the trip but could only show off a handful to the others, heavy ki was a prominent component of most of her videos.

Eventually the story time moved into time to turn on the Jacuzzi and change into swimsuits and start playing movies on the room’s giant television and start the third round of drinks and time for the bong to start being used. Stapular had brought some movies and they ended up settling on a super hero one that was animated because drunk Inka yelling about animations and high Stapular yelling about continuity was a highly entertaining combination. Especially when they started bickering over what was more important.

They made ice cream sundaes at one point, because Marron started snarkily calling it a slumber party and high Inka wanted to lean into that. And because they could and there was no one around to stop them, they ate them before they made dinner aka ordered many pizzas.

Marron wasn’t a bad addition. Goten was mildly worried about everyone’s reaction but they’d all been rather cool about it, especially after they saw how chill Marron was for a thirteen year-old. She had spent most of the time delighted to listen to stories from the intoxicated teenagers as they all sought to outdo the others with sharing embarrassing stories. (Goten could have really done without Inka’s retelling of the time she’d first shared one of her nude drawings, his face must have been flushed red and it hadn’t been from the hot tub.)

Eventually the night devolved into drunken card games that Marron and Calcula dominated because they were the most sober. And because they were drinking games people were only getting more drunk as they went on and it was finally declared to be bed time by Inka if they wanted to hit up the waterpark tomorrow.

An hour later when Goten was getting ready for bed he found Trunks at his bedside.

“Goten move over, I want to share,” Trunks demanded.

“Trunks, you have your own bed,” complained Goten. What was Trunks’s problem?

“No, don’t wanna, want to sleep with you,” Trunks was doing his trademark pout now. Why was he being so incessant, surely he didn’t think that Goten was going to be pulling a repeat of their nightly routine from the past month.

“We are not having sex with everyone so close by.”

“I know that, I just wanna _ sleep _ with you.” Trunks rolled his eyes, “I like being able to smell you.” He confessed finally. What did that mean?

“What do I smell like?”

“You smell like you,” Trunks said as if it was an obvious fact that Goten was a fool for missing, “and I like falling asleep next to you, please?”

How was Goten supposed to say no when he was looking at Goten that way, with eyes that Goten knew he was purposefully widening to look as big as possible as they poked through his bangs. 

He’d even said please.

“Fine,” Goten relented and moved over so Trunks could burrow under the covers next to him. It wasn’t like Goten was that opposed to sharing a bed with Trunks, it was kinda nice.

~

“WaterWorld! WaterWorld” They chanted as they entered the park the next morning, much to the bemusement of the employee who was taking their tickets. They were cautioned by her not to pet the wild peacocks that had invaded a year back and were now free roaming around the park. They were technically feral and were known to steal food and peck at people. Goten already doubted that Marron was going to heed the warnings at all and was going to instead attempt to befriend and name the whole flock.

They gathered around one of the park’s maps and started to work out what order to hit the rides and attractions, the park was far too big to do everything on just their first day. Stapular wanted to hit up all the major rides as quickly as possible and was disappointed to hear that Perilous Plunge, the feature attraction of the park wasn’t open today, but was comforted to know it might be open tomorrow.

The decision on what ride first was already made the moment they discovered one of the rides was called the “Big Daddy Slip n’ Slide”.

“I wanna ride the Big Daddy,” declared Krayron, absolutely delighted by his word choice.

“Don’t we all,” Calcula made sure to sigh dramatically.

“Oh Daddy,” Inka giggled.

“Yeah, you guys sure are the adults here,” Marron said, rolling her eyes. “How could anyone ever think otherwise.”

But Marron was swiftly shushed as they went to go queue up for the Big Daddy, which was a multilane slide that had you go on mats down a steep incline down into a long straightaway. It was designed to stimulate a free-fall combined with a racing element at the end.

It was fun enough to go on, but Goten could see what Trunks had meant about the thrills offered by the park being somewhat lacking for them. When you regularly flew at supersonic speeds, and could engage in literal free-falls from high up in the atmosphere, confident that even if he didn’t catch himself he would still survive the impact into the ground, a waterslide seemed pretty lame.

But all the same it was fun to race his friends, and when Calcula managed to go the farthest and win, he congratulated her all the same. It was about spending time with the people he came here with, he remembered Trunks saying, and that was the truth of the matter. He’d been looking forward to this trip for months, not because of the waterpark but because of the company he’d be in.

Of course said friends had a way make him want to take back all the feelings of camaraderie he felt. When they were standing in the line for the Jet Scream, as they climbed the slide’s staircase up to the top,Goten felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked over to Stapular, the only other person who was at the rear of the group with him.

“So, are you and Trunks going to be playing coy with your secrets about your road trip for the rest of the week?” Stapular asked, keeping his voice low so his voice didn’t travel to the rest of the group who were on the steps above them.

“What are you talking about. We were talking about our road trip all last night,” Goten answered back, keeping his voice low so the others didn’t hear. He was unsure of where this was going, but already he was not liking it.

“Yeah, you said a lot, but you didn’t tell us everything that happened. Don’t you think there should be something _ more _that you’re not telling us? About events that happened on the trip?”

Goten was nervous now. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I don’t know why you’re trying to deny it, I saw you and Trunks sharing the same bed last night. You two got together!” Stapular slapped Goten on his shoulder.

Oh, so that’s what he was talking about?

“What were you doing in our room?” Goten squeaked.

“I needed to use the bathroom and Krayron was in it and I didn’t want to go through the girls’ room so I went to the one in your room. I thought I’d have to wait when I saw one of the beds was empty, but then I realized it was because you were both in the same one. I’m talking to you because Trunks is a better bullshitter and I want a straight answer, wait bad choice of words there, direct answer then, are you two together or you going to try to spin some excuse as to why you were bed sharing?”

Could Goten deny it? Should he? They’d been keeping it a secret from their friends, mostly at Goten’s insistence. Though Krayron acted like he suspected but Goten had been steadfast in never confirming, even if Krayron sometimes called them boyfriends when no one else could overhear that didn’t mean they _ were _. They were best friends, and Goten had clung to that truth like a magic charm to ward of questions.

But okay, maybe he’d known deep down they couldn’t dance around it forever and that eventually the truth would come out. Similarly he knew that it probably wouldn’t be that big of a deal when their friends found out, but it hadn’t made him any less reluctant to talk about it. But there was really no getting out of this conversation now was there?

“Yeah, okay, we’re together.” Simple and truthful, that was the best way to handle this right?

“What are you guys talking about back there?” Calcula asked, obviously having seen them whispering.

“Trunks and Goten are dating!” Stapular yelled, loud enough that everyone in their group could hear, as well as some of the other people around them.

“You’re what!” Shrieked Calcula.

“I knew it!” cried Krayron, which did not make Goten feel better.

Trunks didn’t say anything at first, clearly surprised and looking at Goten for some confirmation of how they were going to play this. Goten gave two short ki pulses in rapid succession, an old signal from way back when they were kids and needed a way to communicate silently. _ Yes. _

“I guess we are,” Trunks said calmly to the group as if he was discussing the weather. Goten wished he could have pulled that level of casualness off.

“And you didn’t tell us!” yelled Calcula, they were getting_ looks _ now from the other people in line but Calcula waved them off. “How long has this been going on?” She smacked Trunks in the shoulder several times to accentuate her point.

Trunks shrugged, “A while. Didn’t seem worth making a big deal about it.”

“How long is a while?” Calcula demanded.

“Yeah, two of my friends are dating, and you didn’t think it was worth mentioning,” said a very peeved Krayron.

Before Trunks or Goten could respond Calcula was already rounding on Marron, “Did you know about this?”

“Marron, don’t answer that.”

Marron acknowledged Trunks warning with a shrug and flippant wave, “I don’t think I’m of much help if you’re trying to figure things out. I’ve been assuming they were together for a long time now, and was just proven right the first time I brought it up.” Marron shrugged in an unspoken ‘what can you do’.

Goten noticed Inka hadn’t said anything. He looked over to her and she seemed deep in thought. Before Goten could ask her anything, he was interrupted by Stapular.

“Wait, Goten, you’re okay with sharing Trunks with his hoverbike?”

“I’m not dating my bike,” Trunks said, and Goten sighed as this was not the first, nor the fifth time he’d heard Trunks say those exact words.

“You still calling her your girlfriend?” Challenged Stapular.

“You’re making it weird.”

“Nope, that’s all you, man.”

The interrogation for further information was interrupted when they reached the top of the stairs for the ride. The Jet Scream was a series of three tubes whose twisted paths were interwoven with each other and sent the riders down in darkness. After that they rode the Gusher Crusher which was a raft ride that prominently featured a large sloped bowl that the rafts would be flung into several rotations until they dropped down the middle. The wait for Gusher Crusher was also filled with much ribbing and teasing from their friends.

After lunch they decided to split up, most of the group had wanted to go on the Riptide Rapids ride while Goten was looking forward to digesting his lunch at a slower pace, so he and Inka had opted to spend their time on the Languid Lagoon river. They were lazily drifting down the river in their inner tubes, floating generally next to each other but occasionally bumping away as the other people splashed around them.

“So, you ever going to tell me why you and Trunks are being so secretive about getting together?” Inka asked.

Oh yeah that. Goten knew this conversation with her was coming, though to be honest he’d sort of been hoping he could continue to avoid it.

“I dunno, telling people made it seem too real? I mean if we start telling people, I’m going to have to tell my parents. And that’s going to be a whole thing.”

“Because of your mom?”

“Yeah, mostly.” He didn’t think his mom would have a problem with Goten being gay, even if she was was pretty old-fashioned about somethings she had to be at least somewhat okay with the idea considering she’d allowed his dad to have that whole thing with Vegeta. Though sometimes Goten wondered if that was mostly just because his mom was so very aware that Goku was an alien in Earthling clothes sometimes.

“Yeah, but we’re your friends, we’re not going to be the ones telling your parents. I mean, I didn’t mind when you were using me as your fake girlfriend to your parents so we could do drawing streams. And this isn’t like I’m still into you or anything, I get you’re gay. I’m just confused as to why you and Trunks needed to hide that you were together.”

“I guess I didn’t want to make that big a deal out of it? Not like anything is really changing?”

“I don’t know. I think getting a boyfriend is a pretty big deal, even if it is just Trunks.”

And Goten’s heart clenched at hearing the word coming out of Inka’s mouth. Boyfriends? Was that what they were? Something about it didn’t sit right with Goten, and he bristled at hearing the term applied to them. Too cutesy and too saccharine, that didn’t suit the fire and intensity of all the things he felt for Trunks.

She saw the grimace, “Okay, so what are you guys if you’re not boyfriends? More friends with benefits?”

“Not exactly? More than that.” Goten wasn’t sure of a lot about it, but he knew his feelings for Trunks weren’t casual. They were the most intense feelings he had for anyone, ones that ran deep and far back as he could remember, all tangled and mixed together. Rivalry, envy, sympathy, friendship, love. Stuff that had both morphed in recent memory and stuff that had remained a constant. But how was he supposed to put that into words?

“You’re great at the specifics here Goten.”

“I don’t know, why does everything have to be categorized and labeled, can’t I just be with Trunks and not have to explain every part of it to everyone?”

“You’re right, I guess we are being pretty nosey,” Inka sighed. “I guess I’m just surprised, I never thought the two of you would be good together.”

What was that supposed to mean? “What do you mean?”

“Just, you’re so different in terms of personality, never thought you’d mesh well in a romantic sense? I mean, I get it, you guys have known each other your whole lives and are best friends, but there’s a difference between that and dating.” Inka shrugged. “Do you think you guys got together just because of that? Just because it was history? A shared history doesn’t mean anything if you guys are fundamentally incompatible at the end of it.”

“You think we’re fundamentally incompatible?”

Inka sucked in her bottom lip and threw her head back so she was gazing towards the sky and not at him, “I don’t know what I think Goten. I’m only 18, and you’re only 17. Maybe I’m completely off base here, I just look at you and I see you with someone because it’s easy and because you love him. I guess I just never thought you were _ in love _ with him. Trunks is just, well _ a lot _, to put up with. And I’m not saying I don’t like Trunks, I’m friends with him after all, but he’s not the type of person I’d ever date, and I guess I never figured he’d be your type either.”

“What kind of type do you think I have?”

“Someone thoughtful and considerate, passionate about things instead of flippant about everything.”

“Trunks is passionate about his mechanic stuff,” Goten defended.

Inka looked at him before sighing, “I think I’m saying my thoughts weird and they're coming out garbled. Look, I could be completely wrong and you two are literally perfect, I’m just, well, I wanted to tell you that you can always talk to me about this stuff, if you need an ear to vent in. But you already know that, don’t you? You’re smart, Goten.”

“Not that smart,” Goten muttered petulantly, he had the report card to prove it.

“So you don’t get the same grades as Calcula or Trunks, you’re smart with people. And you know what’s good for you. I should give you more credit, I mean it’s not like you’re only with him because he’s got the same washboard abs as you.”

Beat.

“Yeah, course not.”

After they met back up with the group they found most of the rest of the big rides had massive lines so they spent the rest of the day till sundown in the wave pool, where every so often the pool would switch on artificial waves. They watched the tech crews set up a large inflatable screen for the movie night feature they’d be showing that night but they decided against sticking around themselves. Once it got dark enough most of the rides closed down but the wave pool and Languid Lagoon were still open and lit up with numerous tiki torches and underwater light fixtures. They opted to go to the Languid Lagoon and drift down the river in inner tubes to watch the firework show “Fire Nights at WaterWorld” going off overhead.

~

##  **(Marron)**

Marron was having fun at WaterWorld. She was intentionally being low-key and friendly because she didn’t want to bother Trunks and Goten’s friends too much when she was the one crashing their vacation and all, but she thought she was getting along pretty well. They were fun, if a bunch of giant dorks.

When they entered the park on their second day all of them, but especially Stapular, were thrilled to hear that Perilous Plunge would be opening in a few hours. Standing at over 53 meters tall, the two person raft ride was the tallest waterslide on earth and the featured attraction of the park.

They spent the morning before it opened on the large wipeout course structure over a large pool. There were slides; things to climb, rope bridges and rope courses; a small zip line; and lily pads that you had to jump across, a feat made all the harder considering how much the large floating pads would shift under your weight. There was also a giant tiki head on top of the structure that slowly filled up with water and would dump it over part of the structure every 15 minutes.

Marron was less thrilled hours later when she found out that she was, in fact, too short to ride Perilous Plunge. Curse her father’s genes. Instead she offered to wait down at the bottom while they all went on the ride, something which seemed less like a second choice when she spotted one of the peacocks nearby. It was very flamboyantly colored so it was one of the male ones. She didn’t have any food to bribe it with, so she had to resort to cooing to try to persuade the bird to allow pets.

She was tuning out the background noise of the adrenaline rush sending all the rider’s ki flaring, it was low enough that she could tune it out as background noise. At least she’d know when Trunks and Goten were going to ride.

She felt something had gone wrong before she heard it. A surge of ki that wasn’t from a thrill of a waterslide but real terror, followed by her ears hearing a yell that was ear-splitting. She whirled around to see that one of the rafts off the slide had gone airborne off the slide in a bad way, and the two girls who were in it were falling towards the ground.

But just as soon as Marron noticed she could already see Goten and Trunks leaping into action and flying off the stairs to catch the girls as they fell. Trunks got to his target first and caught her in a bridal carry while Goten had to go left and caught the other in a side hug around the waist.

Good. Marron started over running over to where she could see they’d land, her focus fixated on them as they came down.

Trunks had landed and slowly set the girl he’d caught on the ground as she clung to him with her arms around his neck as she slowly steadied herself against the solid ground.

Goten flew down at a slower pace, probably to give the girl he caught more time to calm down, but when he was over the pool about two feet up in the air the girl did something unexpected. She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

Marron watched, unable to look away as Goten’s grip slackened and the girl fell right through his arm into the pool below. If Marron hadn’t been _ literally in the middle of running over _ to him she would have laughed at Goten’s face when he’d realized what he’d done. The absolute mortification was incredible. He looked so lost at what to do next, so he just flew over to the side of the pool where Trunks was.

Marron arrived over to see the girl in the pool swimming over to the side and _ glare _ at Goten as she pulled herself out of the water.

“You okay there, Goten?” Marron asked as he was hiding his face in his hands and refusing to come out.

“I’m so sorry,” began Goten in the direction of the girl pulling herself out of the water.

“I don’t want to hear about it,” the girl said flatly. “Thank you for saving me but don’t speak to me.” Fair enough. She turned her attention to her friend, who was still sitting on the ground and seemed to be trembling. “Hey, you all right, Amanda?”

“I think I see the park employees coming over, you guys should talk to them,” said Marron. “Maybe go to the first aid station to make sure you guys didn’t get hurt when your raft launched you? You went through a huge shock.”

“Yeah,” said the girl who was still soaking wet. “Maybe they’ll give me a shock blanket or just a towel.”

The staff had sprung into action, and were very eager to talk with the girls. Marron could hear them shouting into radios about closing Perilous Plunge, she felt bad for Stapular. They let the three of them stand off to the side for the moment.

“Smooth.” Trunks said finally to Goten, his voice only just barely cracked on the end there, but he almost succeeded in keeping a straight face. Oh had he been fighting to maintain his demeanor?

“She kissed me!” Goten hissed, angry eyes only now peaking over his fingers, “What was I supposed to do?”

“Might I suggest not dropping her in a pool?”

“She startled me! I didn’t know how to react! Who goes around kissing people like that anyway!”

“She probably thought it was very romantic and noble, you did just save her life,” said Marron, and patted Goten on the arm at his strangled growl.

“You’re not going to get weird about this?” Goten nudged Trunks.

Trunks laughed, “Goten, you were in such a panic about that girl kissing you, you actually dumped her into the pool. I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel threatened by and not instead just find hilarious.”

“I hate you.”

“Not to change the subject but do you guys know what you’re going to be telling your friends when they manage to come back down here?” Marron asked as she saw the line slowly evacuating the staircase.

“Oh no,” groaned Goten. “Fuck,” muttered Trunks.

It looked like staff members were done and finally wanted to talk to the boys, as two of them walked over. Marron stepped back to let Trunks and Goten brush off the thanks for averting tragedy as they sought to downplay their actions and elude the questions of how exactly they had just done that. Marron’s mind was whirring with how to play off the situation.

“Trunks,” she interrupted the conversation, “after you’re done talking with the staff, why don’t you and Goten go and get everyone a round of drinks from the boba bar and let me talk to them.”

“What, why should I-” Trunks began, but Marron cut him off.

“Because you’re only going to hurt the situation being here. Let me do the cover story while Goten tries to reassemble his dignity.”

Goten wasn’t that great a liar at the best of times, much less when he still seemed to be fighting mortification. And while Trunks was better at it, getting them both on the same page unprompted would be more trouble than it was worth. Best for her to create the spin that would ruffle the least amount of feathers.

When they finally walked over Marron was ready for them. “They were flying,” Stapular said numbly, like he was waiting for Marron to contradict him and restore the sanity of the world. Oh boy, this was going to be a fun conversation and full of creative liberties with the truth.

“Yeah, they were,” Marron began, and the lack of her denial seemed to surprise them. “You don’t think they would have been students of the Satan Dojo without learning some secret and powerful techniques, did you?”

“I’ve never seen Hercule Satan fly,” said Kryaron. Because he couldn’t.

“That’s because he doesn’t want to show off all of his best techniques to the world at large, some things are for showing off and some things are to be kept close to the chest. Flying is something Satan keeps private and only shows his best students. But anyone can learn how, it’s based on this old technique called the _ Bukūjutsu, _err Art of Sky Dancing, by some of the older schools like Crane and Turtle if you want to look more into it.”

“Can you?” asked Inka. “Fly that is?”

“Well I know _ how _, it’s more a matter of having the strength and ki, erm life energy, to do it. I don’t do martial arts, but here let me show you.”

She put her stuff down and put her hands out, and then began to slowly rise in the air, hovering several inches off the ground. She was intentionally keeping it low-key, she didn’t want to alarm them and made it seem less impressive than it was. Like something that anyone could pick up and nothing to be that upset about seeing.

After she touched her feet back down she continued, “My parents taught me how to do it when I was little, my dad was an old student at the Turtle school. I can’t fly at more than like a couple of kilometers per hour, which isn’t that much, it’s actually faster for me to walk. But Trunks and Goten can do it a lot faster.”

“You guys can fly” Stapular repeated, sounding no less dazed. “Could I learn to do it? Could you show me”

“Uh, sorry teaching is not my forte and most of the teachers I do know are retired or aren’t taking students. But I think there’s a new Crane School being run by Tienshinhan, he can probably show you how to do it. It takes a lot of practice but I think it’s something anyone can learn if they’re dedicated enough.”

“Why were they keeping that a secret if it’s just something they learned,” demanded Calcula. “If I learned how to fly I wouldn’t be able to shut up about it.”

“Well that leads into the other part, it’s not just Trunks and Goten’s secret to keep. You know how Hercule Satan has saved the world from bad guys?” Marron waited for the nods before continuing. “Well sometimes there’s a threat that’s too big or too numerous for him to handle on his own, or doing so would mean innocent people would be endangered, so he’s got some allies he can cull upon in those situations, like Buu. Anyways our parents and families tend to fall into that category, but we value our privacy more than receiving attention for our work, so we like to keep the credit where it’s mostly due, with Satan. He’s the guy in charge of the heroics while our families are mainly assistants and he doesn’t want them endangered by any enemies Satan’s made that might want to come after them.”

“Really? Your parents assist the great Hercule Satan, the savior of Earth and star of all those fighting games I’ve played?” said Stapular.

“It’s kinda unbelievable, isn’t it?” agreed Marron.

“I just saw Trunks and Goten fly, I think it’s plenty believable,” muttered Inka.

“But you can see why they want to keep the details private and not show off,” Marron said and then continued to answer their questions with varying distortions of the truth until Trunks and Goten returned, their arms full of smoothies.

The smoothie offering went over well and everyone accepted theirs with cheer. “I guess I get why you guys would keep something so cool a secret, especially if Hercule Satan was asking you to do so,” Krayron said as he bit into one of his boba balls.

Trunks was sending Marron a _ look _, and she could all but hear him demanding to know what exactly she said to placate the situation.

Goten shrugged, “Well yeah, if Hercule Satan is going to ask us to keep a secret, you bet we’re going to respect his wishes.”

“So Satan’s Dojo really lets you learn techniques like that?” asked Stapular. “Marron said she’s going to hook me up with the name of a Tien guy who might be willing to teach it.

“Oh Tien? Yeah he knows how to do it and he runs a school, I guess you can learn from him,” said Goten. “But be aware since you’re not much of a martial artist, it might take a lot of training to learn how. Marron, how long did it take you to manage it?”

“Years,” Marron answered truthfully.

Stapular harumphed his displeasure.

“Would you guys be willing to leave the park for the rest of the day?” Goten asked, “I kept getting looks at the boba place and I don’t want to spend all day with people staring.”

“Yeah, we can head out,” said Calcula.

“Yeah, with Perilous Plunge closed not much point in being in the park for the rest of the day,” said Stapular sadly.

“Oh well, we can hit up the beach!” Inka cheered.

As they made their way to the exit, Marron could see Trunks and Goten wanting to talk so she hung back to allow some distance so she could talk to them privately.

“What was that,” hissed Trunks. “That whole thing involving Satan of all people?”

“Me handling your cover story, you’re fucking welcome,” Marron retorted, they better appreciate her effort.

“What did you tell them?” asked Goten in a worried tone.

“The truth,” replied Marron, “well close enough, anyways, just massaged a little. Parents allies with Satan, stuff under wrap and secretive and private. Also you were students at Satan’s Dojo and of course you knew super secret techniques. Then we got onto the topic of flying and I gave them the name of Tien’s new Dojo and told him to go hit him up to learn the _ Bukūjutsu. _Don’t worry, I didn’t say anything about Saiyans.”

“Thanks,” said Goten, and Marron could tell he meant it.

“Whatever. You two really do need to work on your cover story a lot better if you don’t want people to pick up on it. I don’t know how you guys kept the dating thing a secret from them.”

Goten grumbled some half hearted excuses she couldn’t make out.

~

##  **(Goten)**

They went back to the villa and packed up some coolers to carry down to the beach. One was filled with food but the other was filled with drinks, mostly alcoholic but some sober. They all put on their wristbands that granted them access to the beach and went down till they found one of the free fire pits and began setting up their chairs and table. It took a few trips to carry everything from their villa down to camp, but soon they were set for the day.

The moment they had finished setting up camp Krayron ran off to the water’s edge holding his boogie board aloft, eager to enjoy the surf. The rest of them joined him for some fun in the warm water, the ocean currents favorable to the beach of Yahhoi, keeping the water warm amongst the beaches of fine grained sand.

They spent the afternoon enjoying the beach, they played in the water and did a pickup game of Volleyball. Trunks and Goten were split on the teams for fairness but it was actually Krayron who was the best player, he actually knew how to control and aim the ball and not send it flying wildly like Goten kept doing.

About mid afternoon Stapular had grabbed a bag of sand crafting tools and gone off to construct an elaborate sand castle. Inka had given up her attempts at drawing to go and was helping Marron dig up the raw sand for which Stapular was shaping into his masterpiece.

Krayron had seized control over the portable speaker as he watched over the camp, Goten had been enjoying chilling in one of the chairs and doing some sketches while Krayron played his weird foreign pop music. Calcula had convinced Trunks into going on a walk in the surf with her.

Finally at an hour before sunset they started up the bonfire. Stapular immediately took ownership of it as his fire, he was the fire god, as he began feeding his Trigonometry notes into the bonfire,“Goodbye cosines, farewell cotangents, and fuck you cosecants.” There was much rejoicing and everyone took turns throwing pages onto the fire watching the paper turn into a sheet of ash and flutter away on the slightest breeze.

Goten had been keeping an eye on Marron and was pleased to see she had only been reaching for the non-alcoholic beverages from the drink cooler. She was behaving and Goten felt comfortable with trusting her not to push it so he could cut loose himself.

He was not sharing Marron’s teetotaler status himself as he’d been imbibing rather heavily throughout the afternoon. Goten had been downing shot after shot and was even starting to get tipsy, which was a first. Past experience had taught Goten that he and Trunks could never get anything more than barely buzzed.

They found out it was a genetic thing last year, when they’d tried before sneaking some of Bulma’s alcohol. Bulma had not been pleased and had lectured them till Vegeta had arrived and opted instead to mock them for getting into trouble over such a little alcohol that would have hardly no effect over them. Gloating that their rule breaking was completely pointless and oh won’t your mother like to hear about this Goten.

(She did not. Vegeta was a dick who delighted in Goten’s misery.)

So Goten had some _ complexes _ about drinking where their parents could see and he’s aware he’s never going to be allowed to get a single drink at a party without his mother glaring at and judging him, he _ knows _ it for a fact. But this trip? Away from all that and away from his mom? Heck yes he wants to cut loose.

Stapular had gone back to the villa and brought back a pipe and some more weed, and was packing some bowls for the rest of them to indulge in. Goten had never tried it before but he was eager to do so now. It ached his lungs and he coughed a lot, more so than anyone else. He was grateful Calcula had warned him to grab a water bottle. When Trunks took some hits he had the same problem and Goten wondered if it was more irritating to their Saiyan lungs than it was to the others.

Goten and Inka were making silly drawings for the other to guess what it was and purposefully guessing the wrong thing. They’d both indulged from the pipe and were extra giggly.

“So is that what you guys were always hiding?” Inka asked suddenly, the thought just occurred to her. “That your parents are friends with Hercule Satan? Martial Artists who help keep the planet safe.

If Goten hadn’t been as tipsy as he was he might have noticed the dangerous territory they were approaching, “Yeah, for the most part I guess.”

“So your parents are kinda like that Saiyaman guy?”

Goten bit back a laugh, “Yeah, a bit like him. Only less lame.”

“Saiyaman isn’t lame, well okay he kinda is,” Inka admitted with a laugh. “But don’t let Stapular hear you saying that, he’s a huge fan. I think Saiyaman is pure camp though.”

Inka leaned back in her chair and was gazing off at the ocean as she continued, quietly so that only Goten heard her, “I guess I’m just surprised that it’s something so mundane that you’ve been so secretive about, Goten. I know you’ve always been so reluctant to talk about your family sometimes, I mean you do share stuff but it’s easy to see you’re holding a lot back. Guess I always figured it was something else, like a bigger secret.”

“Well it wasn’t just my secret I was keeping,” Goten defended. “And you know how Trunks’s family is famously private, mines just as bad and we don’t have one of the biggest CEOs in the world getting attention.”

“I get that, and I respect you for being such a good secret keeper, but I guess I feel slightly upset? That you thought I would have blabbed or told anyone. You know I wouldn’t nor would anyone else in the group.”

“Maybe it wasn’t you telling anyone that I was worried about but just you knowing.”

“Well that doesn’t make sense. I know you, and even if you’re incessantly keeping stuff back, I know what kind of person you are. Secret relationship with Trunks or not.”

Goten rolled his eyes, “Wasn’t me dating Trunks and the flying thing enough secrets for this whole trip?”

“Not when I can tell you’re still keeping stuff from me. Do you know how hard it is to not push when I can tell you’re holding back. I don’t want to be a bad friend but sometimes it really sucks.”

It wasn’t like Goten didn’t want to tell her and the others, he did. It couldn’t be that big of a deal really? Goku had lots of Earth friends who accepted him and all of his weirdness, alien monkey tail and all. And Videl had managed to accept Gohan, after he had it all dumped on her, but then maybe Videl was always a bit ready to take on the weird. The kind of girl who spent her teenage years fighting crime for the hell of it, had to be somewhat ready when the strange slapped her upside the head. Goten had memories of trying to keep things on the downlow when Gohan was first teaching Videl to fly, but look at where they were now.

He could trust his friends to play it cool, right? They’d been okay with learning about him and Trunks and about being able to fly. The other stuff was almost the same thing, right?

Maybe if Goten hadn’t been so inebriated he would have given it a second thought.

“You really want to know?” Inka nodded.

“We’re part alien,” Goten whispered it, giddy with the chance to finally share the secret.

“What do you mean part alien?” Inka asked confused.

“Our Dads weren’t born on Earth but a different planet. Then they came to Earth and decided to live here. They’re from a race that’s super strong and stuff.”

“Goten, you don’t have to spin up some great story, if you didn’t want to tell me the truth-”

“No, it is the truth. Look, it’s not just flying, I’ve been able to do that since I was a kid, but we can do other things too, because our heritage gives us the stamina and strength to do it.”

He held out his hands and made a small ball of glowing ki which he held between his palms and showed it to Inka, letting it illuminate her face.

“This is ki that I’ve always been talking about, life energy. The planet has it’s natural amount and so do all the living plants and animals too. I just have more than most people.”

“Because your dad’s an alien,” Inka repeated flatly as she looked at the ball in his hands. But this action hadn’t gone unnoticed by the others, and soon everyone was looking over to Goten.

“Wait what's this, you can make light balls with your hands, show me,” cried Krayron as he reached for it. Goten tried to jerk his hands back but was too slow, Krayron had managed to touch it and reeled back from the burn.

“It’s not a toy that he can just pass around,” snapped Trunks. “It’s raw energy and in the wrong hands can blow things up or worse.” Goten could feel the weight of Trunks’s look as he asked, “Ten, what are you doing?”

“Doing what?” asked Calcula, looking around eagerly to be let in on the conversation already in progress.

“I was just telling Inka-” Goten began.

“Telling Inka what exactly?” Trunks asked, his eyes flashing. Goten looked around the rest of the group, who were all looking on in curiosity or in Marron’s case apprehension.

“Trunks are you in on Goten’s game here?” asked Inka.

Trunks huffed, “I don’t know, I’m not sure what rules we’re playing by. I think Ten has changed the game on me.”

“Goten is spinning some story about you guys being part alien...” she trailed off, as if waiting for Trunks’s dismissal of such a ridiculous claim. Goten was probably the only one who noticed the breath Trunks sucked in or Marron putting her drink down.

“Oh,” said Trunks slowly, “is that what he’s saying? Funny that.”

“Yeah, that’s ridiculous. Goten, what are you going on about?” Said Calcula.

“I dunno, that light ball burned me,” said Krayron, a fact that bore repeating. “Goten what’s going on?”

And Goten didn’t want to hold it back, and have Trunks playing coy. He wanted to explain to Inka why his life was always just so complicated, why Goten felt so awkward in his skin and on this planet.

Maybe Krayron was more willing to listen to what was being said, so Goten barreled on with what he had already started.

“That’s ki and the ball burned you because it can do that, earthlings can learn to make balls of ki, but I can make ones that are bigger. Because while my mom is an earthling my Dad is not. That’s what the big thing we’ve been keeping secret is.”

“Trunks?” asks Calcula.

“Trunks too,” snapped Trunks. “Ten, you could have fucking asked before dragging this out. I would have at least liked _ some _ input.”

Okay Goten flinched at that, he was being kind of a jerk to Trunks, but couldn’t Trunks see how important it was to say the truth?

“More secrets?” said Calcula, “Only now you want us to believe this insane story?” She was looking directly at Trunks, challenging him to prove his words.

Goten gave out a loud groan, why was this so hard? Inka must have sensed just how frustrated he was as she was now speaking in a different tone of voice. “Wait Goten, you’re being serious?”

“Of course he’s being serious,” Trunks sighed before mustering up some bravado as he faced down Calcula. “I guess if we’re doing this, we might as well do it.”

And he created another ball of ki, much larger than Goten’s little light show, than he sent it shooting out over the ocean in a beam. He hit the large rock that was sticking up out of the ocean and it shattered into rubble. There went the picturesque postcards of the harbor.

“That was a fraction of what I can do,” boasted Trunks. “And when we mentioned threats Mr. Satan has ‘fought’ that he called in for help on, most of those threats were interstellar and that help was a lot more intensive than we first let on.”

“And you want us to just accept these facts as you so casually lay out,” demanded Calcula.

“Yes, because we’ve been like this the entire time we’ve known each other, nothing’s different than it was yesterday or the month before that. “

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Goten pleaded to Inka and reached out to take her hand.

Inka flinched back. “Who are you? Really?” she asked.

“I’m just Goten,” he trailed off, beginning to feel like this had all been a terrible mistake. He could feel the weight of all of them looking at him, differently than they had earlier that day. Like he was something other. Alien.

Marron was gazing down at her drink, refusing to look up at anyone.

“Do I know you at all?” asked Krayron aloud.

“You know what? Fine,” Trunks turned around so that he was facing back to the shore and away from the rest of them, “You guys can keep the villa it’s paid out for the rest of the week. Have fun. We’re leaving. Come on, Marron.” And made his way back inland.

Marron got up and shrugged as she grabbed Goten’s arm as they started back inside.

  
  


~

##  **(Marron)**

They went back to the villa and quickly began to pack up their stuff. Nothing much was said but Goten looked like he was taking badly to sobering up.

Marron quickly packed up her bag and made her way back to the main room to wait for the boys. Trunks was furiously gathering up his and Goten’s stuff they’d left littered in the main room while Goten was standing off to the side looking like he was trying not to cry. Marron wondered if he was still drunk or if this was sober overly emotional Goten. Either way she was pretty sure he could use a hug. She went over and held her arms out but Goten refused her hug.

“I’m sorry your friends reacted like that,” Marron began as she continued to hold out her hands. “But I mean, you did put a lot on them. Being able to fly was one thing, but the whole ‘we’re half alien and can level mountains with ki blasts’ is kinda a bit much for anybody. Well anybody normal, I guess.”

“I was so fucking stupid, I mean, what was I expecting?” growled Goten as he kept rubbing his eyes.

“There’s nothing stupid about wanting to trust your friends. I guess, you just need to remember you need to be more selective about which ones you can open up to about which shit.”

“So basically no one ever, right got it.”

Marron sighed, “I mean, you guys still have me. And I don’t know if you noticed, but you aren’t going to be able to scare me off with any part of your secrets.”

“You’re right,” Goten muttered and_ finally _ allowed himself to be pulled into the hug he so badly needed. She almost didn’t hear him as he continued muttering, “Maybe I should just wish I was all human.”

Marron worried she was the only one to hear the comment and would have to disarm that atom bomb of a statement but thankfully Trunks dropped what he was holding and rounded on Goten as soon as Marron let go.

Trunks grabbed Goten’s head with both of his hands, so Goten couldn’t look away from Trunks’s eyes. “Ten, no, don’t even think that. You’re perfect the way you are, they’re the ones with the problem.”

“You should absolutely not decide to do something so big when you’re upset. You’ll regret it later,” Marron added. “And I think you’re coming at this from the wrong perspective. The problem is you made a mistake, and that should be what you undo.”

She felt Trunks’s eyes laser-ing into the back of her skull, wanting to see where she was going, as she continued on.

“You could always just erase the conversation from their memories with a wish. Like how our parents did with Buu?”

“Yeah, it’d be like it never happened,” Goten said perking up. “Good idea Marron. We can just undo it.”

“I don’t know about that,” said Trunks darkly. “Sure we should make them forget the Saiyan talk, but even if they won’t remember, I will, and I’m never going to forget this.”

“What do you mean?” asked Goten.

“I mean, I’m not going to be friends with them if this is how they react to me, friendly sure, but not real friends with them. I’ve seen how far their friendship goes.”

“I’m sorry that I was stupid,” Goten said, “I’ve ruined everything and now you’re upset.”

“I’m not upset Goten, I’m angry! We’ve been friends with them for years! You and Inka did drawing streams together! I was there when Krayron had to deal with his Uncle giving him shit for being gay, and then they act like we’re the freaks! They wouldn’t be alive if we weren’t saving this stupid planet!”

Trunks was clearly fuming and Marron didn’t know what to say to try to alleviate the situation.

They finished packing up their stuff and went outside where Trunks threw a capsule for the car. They headed off to Baba’s and made good time, mainly because Trunks was flooring it the entire time.

When they arrived it was the middle of the night, but Baba was awake and the light in her study was on. They let themselves in and found three cups of steaming tea waiting for them, and they helped themselves to it. Goten had stopped sobbing hours ago, Trunks was still white-knuckling the steering wheel, and Marron didn’t know what to say and felt uncharacteristically morose and somber.

“You were waiting for us,” Marron acknowledged.

“Yes, I thought it best to prepare for your return,” replied Baba as she finished up some paper shuffling.

Trunks narrowed his eyes._ “You knew!” _he loudly accused.

Baba shrugged, “Yes, it is the way of things. I’m sorry for what happened. But even if I had told you what was to come you wouldn’t have learned anything that needed knowing.”

“You could have warned me from making such a mistake!” Goten yelled, voice cracking with emotion.

“And what would that have done?” Baba shrugged. “Words of caution from an old woman are soon discarded, but the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them gives you lessons you keep for the rest of your days.”

“Don’t patronize me! I am not a child for you to manipulate like a pawn!” Goten snapped.

“No, you are much more than that,” Baba agreed. “But you are also so very young and have not even begun to grow into the person you will one day be. That’s why I would never deprive you of such a valuable opportunity when you’re young enough to take it to heart. When you reach my age boy you realize just how valuable it is to be able to learn from mistakes before the consequences set in.”

“Spare me your words witch, and give us the Dragon Balls, we have mistakes we need to learn from,” Trunks hissed, his voice mocking as he repeated her words back to her.

“I’ll go retrieve them. For your information the location of the last ball is with Dende, I’ve sent word to him that you would be arriving tomorrow. You have permission to approach the Lookout. But children, do remember this fact, Shenron is not able to grant the same wish twice, so be careful what you do with it. And no matter the outcome, a wish used can never be considered a wish wasted.”

They left with Marron wondering what exactly the warning was meant to convey.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was hoping this chapter would be shorter than it turned out to be. Why does this keep happening to me? My current draft of the next few chapters seems to be clocking in at shorter, so fingers crossed we’ll get back to the 5k range and not 10k. What is my life. 
> 
> Anyways here is the chapter where I get back to the OCs I made to give Trunks and Goten some actual friends to not be pathetic losers. I know this isn’t a happy chapter, but don’t be too harsh on the kids, they’re only teenagers. They weren’t expecting this alien story. While drunk and high.
> 
> Goten is fun to write when he’s being awkward, just like Trunks is fun when he’s being cocky and spoiled, and Marron is fun when she’s lighting fuses sight unseen while not knowing to where they lead.
> 
> The tallest waterslide on Earth is actually 168 feet 7 inches (51.38 m) tall, but it’s closed because that’s the one the son of a Kansas state legislator got killed on. So I spent time googling way to many water slides to find the tall that was both “approximate” to tallest actual water slide and “dangerously tall” ones. 
> 
> Oh my youthful experience at waterparks and beaches helped inspire much of this chapter. Peacocks keep invading zoos and parks and being nuisance bird pests, this is a thing that happens and they’re just very pretty pigeons. 
> 
> Next chapter Raditz finally gets to show up after appearing in the summary and nowhere else for half the fic. Raditz is so much fun. Also more Raditz means more Vegeta, so look forward to emotionally stunted Saiyan family man meeting his old high school friend for the first time in 20 years. Yeah, Vegeta will be convinced that Radtiz is a diving punishment made manifest. 
> 
> As always please leave a comment or a kudos on this fic to tell me what you liked or didn’t like or what you’re awaiting to happen. They really do inspire my drive to write and help me get out chapters faster.


	7. When You Wish on a Set of Stars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter not from a song this time, but still beated by Zesparia.

##  **(Trunks)**

They flew in the direction of the reading for the last ball on the radar, which was as Baba said, located at the Lookout. They could have made it by early morning but Marron asked for them to please use the capsule house so they could get some sleep. She didn’t want them flying in the car with how tired they were.

They put up the house in the desert and just barely dumped their stuff in their rooms before heading to bed. Once they were in bed together, Goten kept trying to pull away but Trunks aggressively cuddled him into submission. He knew Goten needed the affection right now, even if Goten didn’t, and he wasn’t going to let him shake with fears and worries when Trunks could be pressed up against his back, firm hands draped over Goten’s wais, holding him close, like he was precious. They laid like that for a while, Trunks not even thinking about going to sleep until Goten had finally nodded off. Once he heard the change in breathing Trunks was _ finally _ able to drift off to sleep, satisfied as much as he could be with the situation.

They only slept for a few hours and before dawn were already up and moving forward. Trunks usually hated to be up early but the adrenalin of the situation weighed on him, they needed to talk to Shenron, and the sooner the better. They ate some quick leftover food in the house’s fridge and two of the handful of the remaining stock of protein drinks Trunks had stashed in the pantry. Before getting in the car and flying out the rest of the way to the Lookout, they drove past the pillar which had Korin and Yajirobe place on top.The car stalled out once they reached past the house to Trunk’s horror but Marron helpfully reminded them about the charms to prevent unwanted guests. Shrugging they put the car in a capsule and flew the rest of the way up, at a moderate pace that still meant Marron needed to clutch onto Goten in order to keep up.

They arrived on the Lookout just when dawn was starting to break. They found Dende standing out on the front courtyard facing the rising sun with a serene expression on his face. He looked away from the sunrise when he heard them calling to him.

“Oh, so you have arrived,” Dende greeted them peacefully, “Baba alerted me that you would be arriving today, you’re just in time to watch the sunrise with me. Such a beautiful experience you can only get on a planet with only one sun.”

“They’re not here to greet the dawn, they’re here for the Dragon Balls,” Mr. Popo said as he brought out carrying a tray with two steaming mugs of tea on it and offered one to Dende before turning back to them. “Who died this time?”

“Well no one yet. But hey give us a little credit, we got time,” Marron said, but the usual levity in her voice was strained. “You’re keeping one of the balls on the Lookout now?” she asked trying to change the subject.

Dende nodded as he began to sip his tea, “Yes, well we thought it would be wise to monitor their usage. Such objects of great power shouldn’t be used frivolously.”

Mr. Popo was giving Trunks an unreadable look. “We decided to change our policies after we found Bulma had used them to make herself look younger.”

“I knew it.” Trunks muttered to himself. His mom had seemed to look oddly youthful around the time Bulla had been born. Trunks had wondered what had happened there and always suspected she might have been abusing the Dragon Balls.

“Oh do we have to pass a test or something to be able to make our wishes?” Marron asked.

Mr. Popo put down the tray and crossed his arms, “You can plead your case, and it will be decided if your wishes are worthy.”

Oh, wait they had to get approval for their wishes now. Trunks elbowed Goten and gestured to let him take the lead.

“I want to gain some answers about my heritage,” Trunks said. That was noble and unobjectionable right?

Goten caught on to what Trunks had meant, “I want to fix a mistake.”

“To experience more of the universe,” Marron said.

Mr. Popo gave them a look, “Stop with the ambiguity, and state your wishes plainly. What are you really going to use them for?”

Dammit, they wanted specifics.

“I made the mistake of telling some of my friends that I’m a Saiyan and want to erase the memory.”

“I’m going to bring someone back to life to gain answers about my heritage. So only one resurrection this time.”

“I want an alien laptop that lets me monitor what’s going on in the universe, it could be useful to prevent future problems like that Moro guy.”

Dende sighed and looked back at the sunrise, “Those sound like small but reasonable wishes, except maybe that last one. Alright, you can summon Shenron.”

Mr. Popo went back inside and came out carrying the one-star ball. The three of them gathered around the edge of the Lookout and took the remaining balls out of Marron’s backpack while Dende and Mr. Popo went back inside the building. Once all seven were together they began to glow.

“Alright, let’s do this!” Marron cheered, waving her hands over the balls as if she was the one making them glow through her theatrics alone. “Mighty Shenron! We summon you!”

The balls began to glow brighter and the morning sky was plunged back into a new night darker than normal as the sky turned an inky black. And out from the balls emerged the giant dragon who hovered over the Lookout and gazed down upon them.

“STATE YOUR WISH.” The deep voice boomed through the air like thunder even though Trunks didn’t see the Dragon’s mouth moving.

Goten stepped up first, “Shenron, I want you to erase all memories my friends have of me telling them about aliens and Saiyans. Maybe create a false memory explaining why we left early?”

“THIS WISH IS WITHIN MY POWER. THEY WILL NOT RECALL IT AS IT HAPPENED.” Shenron’s eyes began to glow a brighter red, the only signal they had that the wish had been granted.

Goten let out a big sigh of relief. Good. Trunks didn’t know how he was ever going to deal with them after this point when he remembered how badly it went and they didn’t. But Goten wanted it erased, so Trunks would tolerate the illusion that it had never been spoken about. He’d find a way to deal with the aftermath later.

Trunks wanted to go last so he gave Marron a small jab in the side prompting her to go next.

“Hi Shenron, how are you doing?” She called out to him.

“MY SLUMBER WAS INTERRUPTED BY YOUR FOOLISH MORTAL WHIMS. STATE YOUR WISH SO I CAN RETURN TO MY SLEEP.”

“Okay, sounds good. Well, the universe is a big place, with all kinds of strange and interesting things. I want something that can help me be connected to the greater Universe and maybe keep in touch with what's happening in the other Universes?”

“THIS IS AN EASY WISH.”

A tablet-like device appeared in the air before them and floated down for Marron to catch.

“IT’S CALLED A GODPAD, I INCLUDED CONNECTIVITY TO THE DIVINE WEB AND EVEN THREW IN AN ETERNAL BATTERY.”

“Oh this is really cool,” Marron said excitedly as she began to examine it. “You’re the best Shenron!”

“AT LAST, A MORTAL WHO UNDERSTANDS.”

Finally, now it was Trunks’s turn, no more obfuscating or trying to avoid being talked out of it. Trunks was going to get what he came here for. “I want you to resurrect someone, he goes by the name of Raditz and he was an old friend of my Dad’s, he died like 20 years ago on Earth?”

“AH YES, ANOTHER RESURRECTION, WHY AM I NOT SURPRISED. THIS SOUL HAS NOT YET BEEN REINCARNATED FROM EARTH’S HELL SO IT IS WITHIN MY POWERS TO RESURRECT IT.”

Shenron’s eyes glowed brighter one last time and then a figure appeared next to them. It was a strange man who had really long hair and no pants, instead wearing some strange armor that looked a little bit like stuff his Dad would sometimes wear.

This was Raditz?

“Where am I?” Raditz began, looking around in alarm at their surroundings. The giant sky dragon probably didn’t help.

“NOW YOUR WISHES HAVE BEEN GRANTED, I WILL RETURN TO MY REST” And the seven Dragon Balls floated up into the sky before shooting off in dispersed directions across the globe.

Raditz was watching in shock as Shenron faded and the sky returned to it’s much brighter, though still not full daylight morning.

Goten held up his hands reassuringly to the new person, “You okay there? I know coming back to life can be a bit of a weird feeling, and you’ve been dead for a while. You can sit down if you want.”

“I don’t need to sit down!” Raditz stumbled over his own foot as he backed up. “Maybe sitting won’t be a bad idea.”

He sat down on the tiled floor of the Lookout and Marron, Goten, and Trunks gathered around to get a better look at him. His armor was different than what Trunks had seen his dad sometimes wear, with swooping shoulder pieces and some strange long flap that went over his crotch. Which combined with his bare legs looked ridiculous. His hair reached his knees and he had to throw it over one of his shoulders before he sat down.

Once he was seated Raditz turned back to the three of them and demanded to know, “Who are you! Where am I?”

Trunks answered, “The people who just brought you back to life. And you’re on Earth, well not _ on _ Earth, but you’re on a floating structure in the sky of Earth. We wished you back using the Dragon Balls.”

“Why were you the ones who brought me back? Why not Vegeta and Nappa?”

Marron shrugged, “Because we were the ones who gathered the balls to do it. As for why Vegeta, that’s something you’d have to ask him.”

“Then who are you to wish me back?” Raditz snapped.

Trunks looked at Goten, and Goten realized he was being prompted. “I’m Son Goten.”

“That sounds like the name my fool of a brother was insisting on going by.”

Marron started giggling and Trunks wondered if thinking Goku was an idiot was a universal constant at this point. At least Goten was used to it.

“Yeah, that’s my Dad, alright. His Saiyan name is Kakarot, but he goes by Son Goku. Which makes you my uncle.”

Raditz was giving Goten another look like he suddenly recognized him. “Oh, so you’re that child that Kakarot had-”

“I think you might be thinking of my older brother Gohan? I told you I’m Go-Ten, the younger one.”

“The younger Son if you will,” Marron snarked but Raditz probably didn’t get the pun.

“Younger? Kakarot has another welp?”

Goten sighed. “You’ve been dead for a while, it’s been over 20 years going by what we’ve been told. My Mom and Dad had me during that time.”

“20 years,” Raditz repeated dumbly as he sat back. “I knew it was some time but I had no idea the passage of time was that long.”

“Guess they don’t keep you up to date on Earthly matters when you’re in hell,” Marron said and poked the shoulder piece of Raditz’s armor, it was flexible and bent under her touch but Raditz slapped her hand away.

“I’m Son Goten, this is my friends Marron and Trunks Briefs.” Goten gestured to them each in turn. “And we brought you back because we wanted to ask someone questions about Saiyan stuff and hard to get answers from people who don’t know about it or don’t want to talk about it.

Raditz scowled, “What’s that knowledge to you? I’m not going to spill the secrets of the Saiyan race to some random people, even if one of them is a half-Saiyan abomination.”

Trunks ignored the ‘abomination’ line, focusing on the more interesting part of Raditz’s words. “Oh, so there’s secrets now? What kind of secrets need to be protected when the whole race is pretty much gone?”

Raditz snarled and jumped up and swiped at Trunks but midway through his strike he recoiled in pain.

“Oh wow I didn’t even see you move Trunks,” marveled Marron.

“I didn’t?” Trunks sounded more confused than anyone else. “What happened? Are you okay, man?”

Raditz was looking at Trunks again, more considering this time. Then slowly, telegraphing his intentions he moved to strike Goten, Goten held up a hand to catch the blow but turned out he needn’t have done so as once again Raditz was stopped when he reared back in pain before the blow could land.

“I’m unable to hit either of you,” Raditz said crisply, his words holding some meaning to him that was eluding Trunks.

“Yeah, I have no idea what that was about? Do you want to try again, maybe you’ll not stumble on air?” Trunks offered, confused as to what just happened. But Raditz seemed less completely befuddled, more… considering.

“No, the effect was something like what I’d experienced before, but it doesn’t make sense.” Raditz looked at Trunks again. “…The girl mentioned Vegeta before, what is your relationship to him?”

Trunks shrugged, “Oh, he’s my dad.” Raditz was friends with Vegeta, right? Maybe he’d react better to Trunks than Goten?

“Couldn’t you tell by the arrogant prince attitude?” Marron added, because Marron apparently couldn’t help herself from being a snarky brat.

“Vegeta has offspring.” Raditz cried incredulously. “With hair like that!” before thinking it over a second and going back to “What is Vegeta doing having children!”

“I’m beginning to regret this,” said Trunks as he ran a hand through his hair. Why was his hair so notable? And he did not like the incredulity in Raditz’s voice at all.

“No no no, this is great. Raditz, you’re amazing,” Marron said encouragingly. At least someone was enjoying this because Trunks certainly wasn’t.

“Since you asked, I get my hair from my mom’s side. Dad used to fuss about it too, I’m assuming Saiyans usually only have black hair?” Trunks tried imagining himself as a brunet, and failed.

“Exclusively,” Raditz snapped.

Everyone was quiet for a moment before Trunks regrouped and tried to figure out how to

“So you were a friend of my Dad’s and also worked under Frieza?”

Raditz shuddered, “I can’t imagine why Frieza would have allowed Vegeta to reproduce. What games he must be playing at.”

“Well my Dad doesn’t work for Frieza anymore, hasn’t for a long time now.”

“He defected from Frieza’s army? How has Frieza not come by and ground this entire planet to dust for that betrayal?”

“Well I mean he’s tried but he knows not to come to Earth now unless he wants to deal with our dads, and he knows that’s a fight he’s going to lose so he doesn’t bother us,” said Goten.

“Frieza is held off by Vegeta and _ Kakarot? _ Are you joking?”

Trunks laughed, “Nope, I guess they’re a lot stronger than when you knew them, they’ve had like 20 years to be training. You can ask them to demonstrate for you, I’m sure Dad would be willing too. He likes showing off.”

“Frieza just likes showing up to crash our Earth parties like a big ol’ drama queen,” said Marron.

“Frieza is male, actually,” replied Raditz, as if this was a common source of confusion.

“Oh?” Marron responded as if this was new information, and Raditz didn’t realize he was being played.

“It’s a common mistake, Frieza comes from a species that has low levels of sexual trimorphism between its three sexes.”

Marron turned back to the group, “Can we keep Raditz, he’s amazing. I get that he wasn’t what we were imagining, but I don’t think I’ve met anyone more hilarious. Speaking of, I have a question! Why are you wearing short-shorts and is that a metal garter belt?”

“This is the dress of a Saiyan warrior!”

Oh. Hell. No.

“Please tell me you’re lying,” Trunks pleaded.

Marron meanwhile had lit up with delight, “Please tell me that’s true, and that you have pictures of Vegeta wearing that outfit. I never knew I needed anything so much in all of my life.”

“Please don’t, even if it’s a lie please tell me that Vegeta never wore that, I don’t think I could handle that mental image,” Goten beseeched.

Raditz scoffed, “Vegeta was always a body conscious prude, he insisted on wearing a body suit beneath his armor.”

Both Trunks and Goten sighed in relief, but Marron was much less happy. “Boo! Spoilsport! I wanted to believe that Vegeta spent his years working for Frieza dressed as a space stripogram. In fact I’m choosing to believe this, I don’t care what any of you say, this is my new truth!” Marron declared loudly. Trunks shuddered, he very much did not need that mental image.

Raditz still looked concerned, “If Kakarot and Vegeta are as strong as you say, why was I brought back? You don’t need my help.”

“Well we didn’t wish you back to fight anyone, like Trunks said, wanted to ask you some questions,” said Goten. “You used to be friends with my Vegeta right, and know all about Saiyan stuff, so you can help give us some answers. My Dad doesn’t remember anything and Vegeta only shares information when he’s like forced into it.”

“Yeah,” Trunks added, “he’s really tight-lipped about Saiyan stuff, only speaks about it when he wants to.”

Raditz did not look reassured. “I was brought back to life because my spawn of my brother and Vegeta wanted to inquire about our people’s heritage,” he muttered. He took another look at them before stepping forward with new determination. “First I have some that need answering, you will take me to speak with Vegeta. I have matters with him I want to settle.”

Marron was concerned, “You’re not going to pick a fight with him are you? That won’t end well and we’ve only just brought you back, please don’t be in such a rush to get yourself killed.”

“I’m well aware I am no match for Vegeta, but he has some explaining to do to me.”

“Well he’ll be at Capsule Corp, so I guess that’s our next stop,” Trunks said reaching for his capsule case. He probably couldn’t use the car on top of the Lookout but he wanted to have it ready for when they reached the ground and he could throw it.

“You can fly right?” Marron asked Raditz.

“Of course I can fly.” Raditz sounded offended to have been asked the question.

“Hey, not everyone can, no need to take the question as a personal insult,” said Marron.

“You can fly next to our car,” said Trunks.

“Oh, can you fly right?” Raditz repeated, pitching his voice up to mimic Marron’s.

“Of course we can fly,” Trunks said snidely back, doing a gruff impersonation of Raditz.

“Marron just isn’t able to keep up with us so it’ll be easier if we take the car,” Goten explained.

“Yes please, I don’t want to have to be held by Goten and fighting the wind resistance the entire way back to Capsule Corp. Oh Trunks can I have a capsule to store my Godpad in safely, if it works I mean being godly and all that.”

(It did.)

It was a few hours of flying till they arrived back in West City, when they reached the outskirts they stopped and made Raditz get in the back seat with Marron to stand out less in the city. Capsule Corp got a wide breadth from West City inhabitants for strange goings on, but they still tried to tone it down where civilians could see them. Really they didn’t want to deal with what attention Raditz might draw to himself. Raditz had protested sharing a seat with such a weakling but gave in when Trunks insisted it was the fastest way for him to meet Vegeta.

Once they arrived outside of the Capsule Corp compound they found that they could sense Gohan and Piccolo’s energies inside, which was unexpected. They made Raditz wait outside until they could scope out the situation.

They walked into the living room where Gohan and Bulma were messing with some gadgets over on a table and Piccolo was standing awkwardly to the side.

“Oh, hey guys,” greeted Gohan.

“Aren’t you boys back a little early from your trip? I thought you were still going to be gone the rest of the week,” asked Bulma.

“Finished early,” Trunks said simply, not wanting to elaborate on the experience. “We got our wishes granted and you can have your radar back.”

“Good, I’ll get it later,” said Bulma before ticking off on her fingers. “Vegeta is in the gravity chamber, he’s been delighted by having free rein of it this past month. Now if you'll excuse me, I just put the girls down for a morning nap, I’m going to take the results of these tests into the next round of designing. Piccolo, you’re in charge of coloring time when the girls wake up. Make sure Pan doesn’t decorate the walls and ceiling this time, you know how she gets. That girl is always floating.”

Yep, that was Trunks’s mom. She sounded like she was gearing up for a work marathon in the lab. They waved her off as she left with her arms full before they turned back to Piccolo and Gohan.

“What are you guys doing here?” Trunks asked.

“I’m bringing Pan to have an arranged playdate with Bulla and see the indoor garden,” replied Piccolo. The first floor of Capsule Corp was a large indoor conservatory where Dr. Briefs had all sorts of stray animals from cats to dogs to small dinosaurs running around and specimens of plants from all over the world.

“I’m helping Bulma test some inventions, she’s got a few things that she wanted someone sturdy enough to beta test things which could be dangerous for the average human.” Gohan said conversationally. “By the way, what’s that strange ki presence you guys left outside? I don’t recognize it.”

“Oh yeah, that’s what we wanted to talk to Vegeta about. You can come in,” Trunks yelled.

As soon as Raditz walked into the room, there were reactions from Piccolo and Gohan, both straightening up into alert and on guard stances.

“Raditz!” yelled Gohan

“Oh, so you know him?” remarked Trunks, he hadn’t known if they’d met him before whatever it was that killed Raditz.

“We’re familiar,” said Piccolo gruffly.

“Yeah, well, we wished him back,” said Trunks.

“Why would you do that?” Gohan asked, sounding like he did the time Trunks had seen Pan trying to tear down a wall of a room. Well “trying” implied that she wasn’t very much succeeding in her task.

“Because we wanted to ask someone about Saiyan stuff and Dad gets all weird when I ask him things,” Trunks explained.

“So your next choice was to resurrect Raditz?” Oh, Piccolo did not sound happy. Why was everyone so upset about this?

“Yeah, why not?” Trunks shrugged. “He was my dad’s old friend, right. Also isn’t he like Goten’s uncle or something? He should be able to answer my questions, but first he wanted to meet my dad.”

Gohan was rubbing his face. “Oh boy.”

Raditz was looking at Piccolo warily, “You’re the one who killed me.”

“I did and if the situation called for it I’d do it again.” Huh? Really? Was this before Piccolo became a good guy or was it in some sort of bad fight? In spite of his stated desire for Raditz to answer questions Trunks had he suddenly found he had all new ones.

“I don’t think we need to go that far,” Goten said hastily, “And I didn’t know that’s what happened, Mr. Piccolo.”

“There’s a lot you apparently don’t know and yet you felt the need to drag old history back from the dead.”

Okay, Trunks was done with the lecturing tone he was getting. “Yeah, well, whose fault is that! You guys are the ones keeping us in the dark about stuff.”

“I never even knew about Raditz till Vegeta mentioned him about a month ago in the planetarium.” Goten chimed in.

“Oh Vegeta,” Gohan sighed. “You pick now to start talking about Saiyan history to the boys, I hope you enjoy someone from your past who actually knows you coming back to haunt you by setting the record straight.”

“Are you mocking Vegeta?” Raditz demanded.

“Maybe a little?” Gohan shrugged, sounding done. “He’s the one who is going to be most put out by you coming back. But the reason I’m able to joke is because I know that Vegeta’s a different person then he was than the day I first met him. He even has a wife and children now and everything.”

Raditz didn’t look so sure. “The Vegeta you’re describing is very different from the one I know. I don’t quite believe you.”

“Oh! Oh!” Marron jumped up to get attention. “I want to hear more stories about teenage Vegeta, please share all the most hilarious _ and _ the most embarrassing ones. And especially the ones that are both.”

Raditz was not charmed. “Our lives are not fodder for your amusement, and if you continue to mock them I will make you regret it.”

“Uh, not with a ki level like that you’re not,” Marron said skeptically. “I think everyone else in this room could handle you with ease.”

“Do not use me to bolster your arguments against Raditz,” said Piccolo.

“Fine, I’ll just threaten him with meeting my mom.”

Raditz wasn’t having it, “You think your Earthling mother can stand up to a Saiyan!”

“Uh, yeah?”

Goten coughed. “Raditz, meeting Marron’s mom is a threat you should heed. She’s very strong.”

Raditz didn’t look convinced, “When I survived this planet, the average power level on this planet was around 5 and there were only a handful of those in the hundreds. Vegeta I’ll grant you, and I suppose Kakarot could have proved formidable with years of training.”

Gohan sighed, “That was true when you first arrived but things have changed, and I agree with Goten, you don’t want to be on the wrong side of No. 18. Actually Marron’s father would be more than a match for you as well, and he might be looking to make up for your first meeting when you threw him into Kame House. Saiyans haven’t been the only ones who have been training.”

“Whoa, really. My dad used to be really weak then.”

“You shouldn’t say that,” Gohan said exasperatedly.

“What?” Marron shrugged, “He knows where he stands. Besides it makes the improvements to his current status all the greater.”

“Still,” Gohan muttered.

Goten prodded Marron, “Marron, stop using me to bully people. I don’t like it. Get another henchman.”

“Ah, but it’s just Raditz. And you make an excellent henchman, Goten. Be my flying monkey.”

“No.”

Raditz had been keeping a watchful eye on Piccolo this entire time. “And are you just another Earthling? With your peculiarly green skin.” Raditz asked.

Piccolo chuckled darkly, “I’m an Earthling alright, but by heritage I’m Namekian.”

“The Slug men?”

“The same,” Piccolo responded gruffly.

“And how did a Namekian come to live on this little outpost of a planet in the far reaches of the Northern Galaxy.”

“Same way as anyone else, my ancestors came here and later on I was born here.”

Before Raditz could ask anything else, everyone stilled as they felt Vegeta’s ki powering down.

“Oh, guess Dad’s finished with his training, he’ll be in shortly to head to the kitchen.”

Gohan sighed, “Oh boy, this will be something to see. Guess I might as well stay for the fireworks.”

“What are you talking about?” Demanded Raditz. “How did you know he finished?”

“Energy sensing, we can read people’s ki and sensed Vegeta turning down,” replied Marron.

“Those scouters you guys had,” Gohan gestured at his face for some reason. “They used to do something similar, but we can just sense it on our own based on ki reading.”

“You can sense power without the means of a scouter? But how would you know the relative strength?”

“We just can. I’m sure you can learn, I’ll show you how later,” Marron said hurriedly as the felt Vegeta about to enter the kitchen.

As a group they left the living room and walked down the hall into the kitchen, Vegeta was at the fridge in his training outfit. He threw out an acknowledging grunt when they entered, not looking up from his perusal of the fridge and having sensed them rather than saw. He didn’t seem to notice Raditz at all till he finally glanced over to throw and did a double take.

Living at Capsule Corp Trunks had seen numerous times how a cat acted when it startled, how it jumped back and threw back it’s spine in surprise. It was this comparison that came to Trunks’s mind when his father finally took notice of Raditz.

“Raditz!” Vegeta yelped.

It was a bit surprising that his dad hadn’t noticed Raditz earlier, he had a fair bit of ki. But given his father had just gotten out of the gravity room he was probably still stirred up and not looking for such comparatively small ki readings, especially ones he wasn’t familiar with.

“Vegeta,” Raditz greeted coldly.

“What are you doing here!” Vegeta demanded.

“Your son used those wishing orbs to bring me back to life, something which you failed to do.”

Vegeta looked over at Trunks and Goten. “Boy, we will have _ words _ later.”

Uh oh. Trunks wondered how much trouble he was now in.

“And what do I find when I’m finally brought back? You have settled on this tiny planet in the depths of space? What are you doing here?” Raditz demanded.

“I tired of the constant traveling at the behest of Frieza, after I left the Force I settled down here. It’s got decent amenities and good food. Besides, it was where Kakarot had decided to live.”

“So, you’ve just settled here? The great Vegeta, Destroyer of Worlds has chosen to go domestic?”

“I’m not asking for your approval, Raditz. Frankly I give as much care of your opinion on my life as I gave about your death: _ none. _”

Ouch, harsh.

Raditz spluttered for a moment before being silent, staring at Vegeta with narrowed eyes. Like a fighter recovering from a blow and waiting to make his next strike count.

“Why couldn’t I attempt to hit the boys?” Raditz asked in a calm that sounded false even to Trunks.

Vegeta’s eyes went wide at the question. Oh so he knew what Raditz was referring to? That weird moment where Raditz failed to land a blow even when Trunks had been wide open.

“Because they’re stronger and faster than you?” Piccolo quipped dryly.

Raditz seemed perturbed but let that comment pass, “That would be an adequate reason I wouldn't have been successful, but that wasn’t what I asked. Vegeta, why was I not able to attempt it?”

“Ah.” Vegeta looked around like he would rather be anywhere but in the room. Haltingly, he began to answer, “As Prince I am perfectly in my rights to name those who are eligible to the registry.”

“Ah yes, the royal registry you’ve never cared about?” Raditz cut in. “Besides, that might explain your son. But what about the other?”

Oh wow Trunks could see his dad _ did not _ want to be having this conversation.

“As the son of my kismesis-”

“You took my weakling brother as your kismesis! And named his son! What is the matter with you!”

For a moment no one said anything. But finally Marron was the first to react when she squeaked out an _ “Ohmigods” _ and looked all for the world like Christmas had come early. The rest of the room’s inhabitants were less giddy and more uncomfortable at Raditz’s displeasure.

Trunks was going to completely ignore that kismesis stuff and instead focus on the fact that he was pretty sure this is the first time he’d ever really heard anyone refer to Goku as a “weakling”. Even when Beerus far outstripped them terms of strength, he and Whis still gave their fathers their due for how strong mere mortals had become. But then there was the other part of Raditz’s words, not where he was upset that Vegeta and Goku were kismesis, but that Goten had been named, which what did that mean?

Gohan was similarly confused, “What is Raditz talking about Vegeta, the naming thing?”

Vegeta made a face and massaged his eyebrows, “The rites are for naming the children of the royal line. As prince it is also at my discretion to choose to name the children of my kismesis.”

“Is that why you asked me to show you how to write Goten’s name when he was born?” asked Gohan.

Given the way he stilled, Trunks would bet that his father hadn’t been expecting that to be remembered.

“Wait when Goten was born, but that was years before you and Goku decided to-” began Piccolo.

“Kakarot was dead and I was sentimental!” Vegeta roared and cut Piccolo off before he could continue, furious that he was being forced to admit this, “And that is the end of this discussion!” His tone brokered no argument, which really wasn’t fair because Trunks wanted to argue that point a lot. Trunks looked over and saw that Goten was as annoyed about the scarcity of information as he was. Neither of them had ever heard about this before and suddenly Trunks’s attempt to get some answers to questions he had was just leaving him with brand new questions.

But Trunks could also hear by the way his father had yelled his words that he wasn’t going to be elaborating on the situation more. Trunks couldn’t help but feel a bit of despair that his father, the untouchable Saiyan prince had also been filling in as some sort of Saiyan romantic heroine spending over a decade pining from afar for Goku. This was officially too much for Trunks to tolerate and comprehend.

But also that the admission hung undisputed, Vegeta had not discovered Goku requited the whole stupid thing until only several years prior. But that even a decade prior he had already named Goten to this royal thing?

“Oh wow, Vegeta,” Marron said and Trunks cringed. Oh no, she needed to not be in here, she was only going to make things worse. Apparently his dad agreed.

“That’s it! The girl is leaving,” Vegeta announced, placing his hands on the counter like he needed the restraint to not physically throw Marron out of the room himself.

“Vegeta, no!”

“I think that’s for the best,” Gohan agreed before turning to her. “Marron, this is a private matter.”

“But I want to hear more from Raditz,” Marron said sulkily.

Gohan, mustered up his most authoritative Dad voice when he responded. “No, you’re leaving, go find Bulma in the lab, I’m sure she’s going to want to hear what your wishes were.”

After much grumbling she left, and then Piccolo broke the silence. “Just Goten? Why not Gohan?”

Vegeta made a face, “I can’t.

“Because I’m too old or because I’m not good enough?”

“It would be improper for me to do it considering we first met as combatants. It would dishonor you for me to ignore that.” Vegeta snapped the end, wanting this conversation to be over and done with as soon as possible.

It occurred to Trunks at the same time it seemed to occur to Gohan that Vegeta was saying he _ was _ honoring Gohan by not naming him in a way that would be improper.

“Oh.” Gohan said, and after thinking about it a moment he smiled.

“So that’s important under Saiyan custom?” asked Piccolo.

“Yes.”

Raditz meanwhile looked like the entire universe had gone sideways. “Who are you and what have you done with Vegeta? Have you grown nothing but soft and weak since I’ve been dead?”

Vegeta snarled and went Super Saiyan, his grip on the counter intensifying. It was probably taking all his restraint to not crack it, “Ask me again how weak I am? How soft I’ve become.”

Raditz’s eyes were wide open. “What’s this?”

“Super Saiyan,” his dad responded no small amount of smugness in his voice.

“You achieved Super Saiyan,” Raditz repeated dumbly, not quite believing the words as he said them.

“And far beyond.” Jeez, that was putting it mildly. “So yes, Raditz, I have changed from the person you knew, I’ve grown stronger than that man could have ever imagined. And you will stow your commentary on my current life when you know nothing of the things that have happened since your death. We have far surpassed power you could have ever imagined. In fact, boys help my demonstration.”

Oh so it was a group demonstration now? Alright. Trunks called upon his ki and allowed himself to power up, he felt the spikes of ki flare in the air as Gohan and Goten did the same. He didn’t mind showing off when he got the chance and it felt good to be back in Super Saiyan. The surge of raw power leaping out of his fingers, begging to be released in some sort of combat. Trunks could level a mountain range with ease like this, hell he sometimes wondered if he could take on a planet when he went super. Not that he would unless it was like uninhabited and far enough away from living planets to not pose a problem if he destroyed it, but still Trunks felt very comfortable in the knowledge that he _ could _.

Raditz just gaped back at the four of them with their blonde hair. He didn’t have any more snappy responses ready or seemed to be able to muster any coherent response, he was just in shock.

“Alright enough of this, I’m going to tell Goku to get over here, he needs to help with this situation. I don’t care that he’s training with Uub, Raditz is his brother and thus his problem,” said Piccolo and began to concentrate on using his telepathic abilities.

~

#  **(Goten)**

Goten wasn’t sure what Trunks had been expecting with wishing Raditz back but it probably wasn’t this current scene before them. Honestly, Goten hadn’t been _ that _ surprised by Trunks’s wish, but he still hadn’t expected this to be the end result. Instead of being happy he was back Raditz was being guarded and angry and he demanded to come see Vegeta. Goten hadn’t thought much of it at first, he thought they were friends, but they sure weren’t acting like it. They were both glaring at each other a lot and their comments were all harsh.

Goten was pondering this as they stood around the kitchen while Piccolo was telepathically contacting Goku and trying to convince him to come over and deal with a situation. Goku finally agreed but he needed to finish his lunch but he’d be over shortly.

“Once Goku gets here, I think I’ll stay for this conversation,” Piccolo said conversationally after he filled everyone in on his talk with Goku.

“The fuck did you say Namekian,” hissed Raditz. “This is a conversation for Saiyans, you aren’t needed.”

Boy, Raditz didn’t seem to like Mr. Piccolo _ at all, _ he kept glancing at him like he never wanted to be unaware of Piccolo’s placement in the room. It was hard to tell because of Raditz’ body language being so closed off but he seemed to have a real problem with him. Was it because Piccolo was the one to kill him? Okay that sounded bad, but it was a long time ago and it wasn’t like it was going to happen again.

“Piccolo,as your presence seems upsetting to him, I grant you permission to stay,” said Vegeta.

Piccolo laughed darkly, “I don’t need your permission Vegeta, but on this occasion I’ll grant a request.”

After a few more silent moments of tension in the room, Goku finally popped in. “Guys, you know I wanted to be training with Uub, what’s so important that I needed to come right away.”

“This won’t take long Kakarot, and you should be here for this.”

Goku turned and looked around and finally saw Raditz, and there were a brief series of expressions that flashed across his face, far too fast for Goten to place, before he was back to his usual demeanor, just there was something off about it.

“Huh, how did this happen?”

Piccolo was the one to answer him. “Apparently the boys went off on a Dragon Ball hunt, along with Krillin’s daughter, and thought it was worth wishing him back, for a reason that still eludes me. They claim it was to seek answers about their heritage.”

“Well maybe if you guys weren’t holding information away from us,” Trunks protested.

Goten knew his dad could be pretty perceptive of people’s emotions, if not their intentions, a lot of the time, so he wasn’t surprised when Goku took a moment to glance over and meet the eyes of everyone in the room. He met Vegeta’s gaze last and held it for what was probably only a few more seconds more but sure felt like a lot more, before he finally turned to address Raditz and the rest of the room.

But something was slightly off, and Goten couldn’t place it for a bit, not a dramatic difference in his Dad’s usual demeanor, but a slight tension in the air that was never around Goku.

“Oh yeah, Radish right?”

“Raditz.” Vegeta corrected, his affected neutral and demeanor not changing but there was a hint of amusement in his voice.

Anyone else calling him by his wrong name would have seemed like an intentional slight, but Goten knew his dad well enough to know it was probably completely genuine. He had simply let himself forget the name.

“Oh, okay,” Goku took the correction and continued undaunted. “Yeah, you’re my brother and Vegeta’s old friend or something.”

“Or something,” Vegeta felt the need to add quietly. Vegeta wasn’t talking much, letting the intensity of his gaze do most of the intimidating for him.

Raditz didn’t look like he knew what to make of Goku, “Do you not remember me-”

“I mean, it has been a while, and some of the details have gotten a bit fuzzy, but I remembered the important parts pretty well I think.” Goku leaned his back against the counter and faced Raditz, everything about his body language telegraphic casualness but still Goten felt something was off with his voice as he continued. “You came to Kame house, told me I was a Saiyan and sent to Earth to kill all it’s people, because that’s what Saiyans did. I told you to leave and you took Gohan and told me the only way I could get him back was if I made a pile of a hundred dead Earthlings.”

Wait. What? That was what had happened? Why was this the first time Goten was hearing about this, and he _ knew _ Trunks hadn’t known about anything like this.

Was Raditz’s demand of Goku considered a typical thing amongst them? Was that what Raditz, Vegeta, and that other guy were doing the whole time they worked for Frieza?

Goten suddenly wondered how much new information he was going to hear today.

If the words weren’t surprising enough, there was also something off about the way his dad was speaking, it was _ off _. A long simmering anger? No that might be putting too much emotion behind it, a strong distaste for sure.

Gohan and Piccolo both seemed mildly surprised, but since they already knew this story was their reaction from Goku’s oddly out of character voice?

Vegeta was impossible to read, he had the same carefully neutral, well neutral for him, expression, and it would have fooled anyone if you couldn’t see the gleam in his eyes of a type Goten couldn’t identify. He had the feeling that Vegeta was the only one who knew exactly what Goku was feeling and what he was going to say next.

Goten didn’t ever recall his father to be the type to hold grudges. He was usually far too willing to forgive enemies, sometimes to a fault, he didn’t even seem to hold a grudge against Frieza. He’d asked for Majin Buu to be reincarnated even-

But then again that was because Frieza was at least strong enough to be a decent opponent, Raditz was very clearly not that. Why did his Dad seem to bear such a grudge? It had to have been a personal dislike.

The thought suddenly occurred to Goten that it wasn’t like any of them could stop Goku from doing what he wanted. It was hardly a revelation that his Dad was the strongest on Earth, and that the list of people who could even conceivably put up a fight with him was a very limited list. 

The only one who could feasibly prevent Goku from doing what he wanted was the only other person in the room who disliked Raditz even more, and judging from that malicious gleam in his eyes, would not be coming to Raditz’s defense so much as letting Goku do whatever he wanted so long as Vegeta got a front row seat.

He’d never thought of his father as a bully, but then again he also never thought of his father as one to hold a grudge.

Raditz seemed to be recalculating his strategy, “If you think that the things I’ve done hold a candle to what Vegeta-”

Goku shrugged “Yeah, I’m sure there are a lot of stories you can tell me but I don’t want to hear them, they’re in the past. Besides, you’ve been dead for quite a while. I think by now I know Vegeta a lot better than you.”

That might be putting it mildly. But also a good point, what information would Raditz’s stories from decades ago reveal that would change the current situation? Neither Goku’s words nor Vegeta’s silence negated whatever stories Raditz had, they just didn’t care about them.

It was surreal for Goten to think about. The Vegeta he knew and the Vegeta Raditz was talking about, were they really the same person only 20 years apart?

“You think you know Vegeta better than me, Kakarot?” Raditz said, affront coloring his words.

“Yeah I do. And I don’t like hearing you call me that, you can call me Goku.” He said it like it was a command that was to be heeded.

Raditz looked surprised to hear it, “You didn’t protest Vegeta calling you by your proper name.”

“Yeah, but that’s Vegeta,” Goku shrugged, then after seeing the lack of understanding from Raditz, he elaborated. “When he calls me Kakarot, I know he’s doing it because he’s reminding me of who I am, ya’ know that I’m a Saiyan. But he always knows it’s still just me. When you do it it’s different, it’s like you’re trying to say something else, I dunno, like you’re trying to talk to someone else who goes by that name.”

Wait was that the reason that his Dad put up with Vegeta calling him by his Saiyan name? All this time Goten had never really thought about why it was his dad tolerated Vegeta calling him by a name no one else used, he’d just assumed it had been because Goku knew that it would be pointless in trying to get him to stop.

Raditz considered his words, “Did you know that you look remarkably like our father, and not just the hair. His name was Bardock, and he-”

“I don’t care about my father.” The words came out easy but there was a heavy weight behind him and everyone could hear it. “And I don’t want to hear about why I was sent to Earth, because it doesn’t matter. It never did. What only matters was that I was and then I was found by an old martial arts master named Son Gohan and he raised me and named me Son Goku. That’s who I am. I may be a Saiyan but Earth’s my home and always has been. It’s where my friends and family all live, well most of them, but it’s also the planet I want to protect. And if you don’t like it you can just leave.”

“But, Vegeta-”

“It’s Vegeta’s home now too.” Goku said sharply. Goten blinked at he heard what he’d almost think was _ possessiveness _ if it was coming out of anyone else but his father, maybe it was even still? There was certainly a threat in Goku’s words however, a dare to contradict the statement and a promise that doing so would not go well.

Raditz heard it too and his mouth has snapped shut.

Wow, okay. There was a lot there that Goten had to try to process. Goku was making it clear to Raditz that as far as Goku was concerned Vegeta was now an Earthling. Which was an odd thing to ponder, Vegeta had always been on Earth as far back as Goten could remember, that strong inscrutable figure sure, but one that still fundamentally belonged in his picture of Earth. But to Raditz this must be all new information. And hearing Goku all but proclaim that Saiyans who lived on Earth were more like Goku than the kind Raditz remembered.

Both Piccolo and Gohan also looked taken aback by his father’s words. Vegeta hadn’t said anything the entire time, but he was smirking now.

Raditz finally regrouped his thoughts and turned toward Vegeta, “So, you’ve relocated now that you’ve left Frieza’s force, you don’t worry about what your precious Earth will be once Frieza sets his sights on it? He doesn’t take desertion lightly.”

“He can try,” Vegeta intoned sardonically.

“Yeah, I already know he wants to kill us and destroy Earth, but I’m not going to let him,” replied Goku. “Now that he’s alive again, he’s not going to be eager to throw that away.”

“What do you mean alive again?”

Goku shrugged, casually “Well he’s alive right now, but I had to kill him once because he tried to blow up the Earth. He’s come here before but it’s ended badly for him so I’m pretty sure he’s going to stay away.”

“You killed Frieza?” The disbelief in Raditz’s voice was overpowering.

“Yeah, almost did another time too so he really doesn’t like me.”

“And Frieza has no lingering fondness for myself,” Vegeta spoke, “Raditz, I would remain off his radar if you can manage it, I doubt he would react well upon hearing that you’re alive.”

“Oh yeah, I guess that would go pretty badly,” Goku sighed, “I guess he can stay on Earth as long as he behaves.” Then directing his words at Raditz, “That means no harming Earthlings or trying to threaten to take kids if someone isn’t doing what you want.”

The last part sounded a little specific, and Goten remembered what his dad had said about Raditz taking Gohan. He couldn’t have been that old at the time?

“Kakarot, he’s incapable of causing harm to Pan or Bulla,” Vegeta cut in.

“Well _ yeah, _I know Pan could handle him but Bulla-”

Vegeta interrupted Goku. “No, I mean he’s bound by a loyalty oath he took when he was assigned to a Squad that had the prince on it, he can’t act in malice against any member of the royal family, or those who have been named by the sacred rites.”

Oh, finally! Was this the moment when they were finally going to get an explanation? One that Goten was wondering about a lot after first hearing about it.

Wait did that mean Vegeta did the same thing for Pan too?

Goku actually turned to Vegeta at that, not even bothering with looking at Raditz or anyone else in the room. “That seems kinda-one sided if he couldn’t hurt you when you were younger, wouldn’t that mean you guys couldn’t train?” Goku asked like the whole thing seemed flawed for that one reason.

Vegeta sighed before elaborating, “It’s a bond of intent. It can differentiate between sparring and actual malice. For instance it would prevent him from taking such actions that would cause grievous harm, like poisoning or preventing him from standing by through inaction if I was dying and he could help take me to a healing pod.”

This was far more information then they got earlier, why was it Vegeta was only actually talking about it to Goku and not them? They’d just brought Raditz back because they wanted more answers and their dads were proving once again why it was necessary with their refusal to talk to them.

“Okay, so couldn’t he hurt Pan?” Goku clarified, not accusatory more just mildly curious as to how the pieces fit together.

“As the granddaughter of my kismesis, she was technically eligible to be named to the Royal family through the sacred rites when she was of the appropriate age, around her third birthday by Earth calendars. It was up to my discretion, and I chose to do so.”

Then after a beat, and a bit quieter like he wanted to get this confession out of the way as quickly as possible, “As I also did for Goten.”

Goku made a curious noise, “Huh. Were you ever going to tell me?”

“I hadn’t planned on it.” Vegeta’s gaze was fixed on the cabinet and did not move a centimeter.

“Why not?” Goku asked like it was an innocent question and not a loaded one.

“I didn’t think it would be relevant, it wouldn’t mean anything to you, or anyone on this planet.”

“Then why did you do it?”

“Because it meant something to me.”

“Oh. Okay then.” Goku turned back to the rest of them, as if the matter was settled.

No. ** _NO_ **. The matter wasn’t settled just like that. This was the most information they had gotten so far, and the only time Vegeta was willingly answering questions! And Goten knew that if Goku dropped the topic then then it was never, ever going to be picked up again.

Goten wanted to smack something with how easily Goku had accepted Vegeta’s words about information that had been kept from him and just seemed to shrug the secrecy off immediately, like it wasn’t worth any more thought. Maybe it really didn’t merit any more to them?

Maybe things were really just that simple for the two Saiyan men. Vegeta only answered Goku’s questions because he knew Goku would drop it the moment that short list of curiosities were satiated. Vegeta had refused to answer anyone about his reasons or intentions, and suddenly Goku was able to very quickly get to the heart of the matter and Vegeta gave him brisk answers but complete ones nonetheless. It had always been described to him that they were on their own wavelength that only they understood, but Goten had never seen it quite so clearly. 

“What were we talking about?” Goku asked as he turned back to the rest of the room. “Oh right, Raditz, if you want to stay on Earth you’re going to have to behave, can you do that?”

“I can give you my word.”

Goku hummed, “Well I don’t know about that. You did that before too, when I had you by your tail, you said you regretted your choices and swore to leave. But you were lying. How do I know you’re not lying now?”

Vegeta’s contribution to the conversation was a snide snort of malicious amusement. “Ha, told you you were pathetic for never training your tail.”

Raditz ignored Vegeta instead addressing only Goku, “You have better leverage against me now, it’s more beneficial for me to agree to your terms than lie to you at this time.”

Vegeta interrupted, “If you're so concerned, Kakarot, you can leave him under my care. I have years of experience keeping Raditz in line.”

“Well okay if Vegeta is gonna keep an eye on you, I guess we’re good.” Goku looked around the room, “Now if that’s all taken care of, I’m going to go back to Uub’s village-”

“No.”

Everyone turned to look at Vegeta.

“You can return to the Earth boy’s village this evening, you’re coming with me to the gravity chamber _ now _.”

What did threatening Raditz put Vegeta in the mood for a spar? Goten was never going to understand Vegeta. Even more so now when he was reeling from all this new information that had been thrust upon him. What Vegeta’s work under Frieza must have entailed, and all that had changed in the years since then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so downside to having this fic be from the kids’s perspective is you don’t get to see the moment where Vegeta drags Goku off to fuck him, but please know that that absolutely is what happens. What does Kakarot think he’s doing, intimidating Raditz like that, he shouldn’t be allowed to be that attractive. It’s illegal. Of course Goten wouldn’t pick up on this, he’s such a pure boy and the only sex life he thinks about is his own.
> 
> Marron is so sad that she got banned, but it was for the best. Can you blame the girl for wanting a big bowl of popcorn while hearing Vegeta and Raditz bicker about personal issues. Lord knows I would, that’s why I’m writing this fic.
> 
> Okay so the naming thing; this is an idea I made up and happened during the story of the fic that precedes this one, Saiyan Kismesis. In it, during Vegeta’s grief over Goku’s death after Cell he does a ritual where he writes down Trunks and Goten’s names by old Saiyan rites. He figures he’s the last living Saiyan, the only ones left are these half-breed kids, Trunks is his son and Goten is the son of his kismesis, he’s going to do it. (Then he did it again when Pan and Bulla where toddlers, the appropriate age.) He had not planned on ever telling anyone, ever. Boy was he not happy this secret is suddenly getting dragged out. Good thing Kakarot knows to drop it.
> 
> In Volume 6 of the Dragon Ball manga when Goku first visits Capsule Corp we get to meet Dr. Briefs and learn about his stray animal collecting and how delightfully eccentric he is. I strongly encourage people to read the manga, it’s a great experience and thrilling read. I pull a lot of my characterization stuff from early Dragon Ball. 
> 
> Anyways this chapter marks Raditz return. Let the bullying of Raditz commence! Please leave a comment about what you liked, didn’t like, or what you’re looking forward to. Next chapter is all about alien culture drama, it’ll be up sometime in late March. I aim to update on Fridays.


	8. Who Gives a Damn About the Family You Come From

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from “We Are Golden” by Mika. Beated by Zesparia.   
Some minor homestuck references, but you don’t need to have read homestuck.

#  **(Trunks)**

Trunks was sulking. He’d been grounded, which was complete and utter bullshit and his dad only did it because he was upset that Raditz had been brought back. Which  _ so _ wasn’t fair, how was Trunks supposed to know that his Dad would react so negatively to Raditz returning? Besides it wasn’t like anyone had told him he wasn’t  _ allowed _ to wish him back.

He’d thought he’d be able to convince his mom to reverse it, she of all people should understand how Trunks got sometimes when he  _ needed _ to know things. But alas she’d backed up Vegeta once she’d come out of her lab, instead ruling that wishing back a new houseguest with no warning deserves some punishment. So now Trunks was stuck at Capsule Corp for the rest of summer, not allowed to go out at all, and he had to help his mother do an inventory of her workshops which  _ sucked _ because it always took  _ forever _ .

Not only that but they took away his game console. Sure he could always build a new one, they’d only taken away his current console, nothing said about new ones. But that would be breaking the spirit of the punishment and Trunks had more than enough learned experience to know that being cute with technicalities only went poorly for himself.

Still his grounding wasn’t  _ terrible _ , the main saving grace was that his parents were practically softies and let him continue some of his interests. His mother wouldn’t dream of banning him from his workshop or projects and if Goten wasn’t allowed to come over then Trunks wouldn’t have any reason to train and that was unacceptable to Vegeta. He was pretty sure the only reason the game console was deemed appropriate loss was that neither of his parents cared for him spending time playing video games.

The conversation he’d had with his parents that evening had not been  _ fun _ , Goten had been sent home already, leaving with Gohan to return to Mount Paozu. Marron was up in her guest room she was staying in while her parents were still on vacation. She said something about checking out her new Godpad. Pan and Bulla were soon up for their nap and Piccolo elected to take them on a trip to the zoo.

Bulma had agreed it would be best to have Raditz remain at Capsule Corp while they worked out what exactly to do with the newly resurrected Saiyan. After his grounding Bulma went to meet Raditz, which was a fascinating thing to watch. She’d emerged from the lab, having heard from Marron about what their wishes were, and eager to meet the Saiyan. Vegeta had been on edge when the three of them walked into the living room where Raditz had been told to stay while they had a  _ parenting discussion  _ in the kitchen.

“This is Bulma, she’s my mate,” Vegeta had introduced them tersely, like he was expecting Raditz to have some response to it.

“On Earth we use the term wife,” Bulma corrected as she walked in.

“Semantics,” Vegeta retorted gruffly, but didn’t continue the argument further. It was an old and familiar one that Trunks had heard for years whenever his parents wanted to bicker about something for the sake of it, both firmly entrenched in their side of the debate and neither of them actually expecting to change the other’s mind.

“We met once already, I was at Kame House when you arrived and dropped that whole ‘Goku’s an alien’ bombshell on us. I hope this time we get along better this time.” Bulma held out her hand to Raditz.

“I see,” was Raditz's only response as he stared at her land like he wasn’t sure what it’s purpose was. Bulma dropped her hand with a sigh.

“Guess they don’t do handshakes in space.”

“Raditz will be much more cordial than your first interaction,  _ won’t he. _ ” Vegeta said, glaring at Raditz.

“I take it your son takes his coloring from your side of the family,” Raditz said after a moment of awkward silence. Trunks got the feeling he was trying to make small talk and just was naturally bad at it.

“Yeah, Trunks gets his purple hair from my dad’s genes. You’ll see Bulla at dinner, Piccolo took her and Pan to the zoo, she’s got the same teal hair I do.”

Raditz looked at Vegeta, “You have a daughter as well.” It could have been a question but it sounded more like some sort of accusation.

“I do.” Boy the amount of menace in those two words.

“I see.”

Bulma laughed, “Is that all you have to say?”

“This is all very strange to me,” Raditz said carefully. “I never imagined Vegeta as the type to choose domesticity. I don’t know what to make of it.”

“Well don’t mistake my domesticity for complacency,” Vegeta snapped. “I am both stronger and a better warrior now than I’ve ever been.” Vegeta was glaring as he laid down the law to Raditz where things stood, making it known how much Raditz would not wish to contradict him.

Trying to lighten the atmosphere Trunks forced a laugh, “I’ll say, you’re always in the gravity chamber, or on mine and Goten’s back about training.”

Vegeta relaxed, “As I should, I won’t have my only son being a layabout.” At least he wasn’t glaring at Raditz anymore and it seemed to have lessened the atmosphere of the room.

“You and Kakarot’s youngest are close then?” Raditz asked, and Trunks sensed he was desperate for a topic change.

“Yeah, we’re best friends.”

Trunks wasn’t completely sure but he thought he heard his father mutter under his breath, “And then some.” Which just made Trunks roll his eyes. His dad liked to grumble about how “codependent” he and Goten had been since they were kids. Vegeta had repeatedly voiced his disproval of how reliant they were on fusion, which was stupid because Gotenks was  _ awesome. _

Raditz seemed to think about his response for a moment before settling on, “Make sense that you would be close, growing up as you must have. You’d be drawn to the only other tolerable life-form of your age.” 

Trunks got the impression Raditz was trying to be neutral or polite and was simply failing.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in terse and awkward conversations as Raditz was shown around the compound and was given a room with no windows. Bulma had brought up concerns about the full moon and some weird transformation Raditz could do because he had his tail. Trunks didn’t have the full story but apparently it involved turning into a giant ape? That sounded cool and he’d have to see if he could persuade everyone to let him see the transformation at least once. If he wasn’t grounded he’d suggest they could fly out to a big abandoned area during the night of the full moon so no buildings or anyone was endangered. He’d suggest it to Goten.

The mood lightened later that evening when Piccolo came back from the Zoo and brought Bulla home. Pan and Bulla returned with a whole miniature zoo of chocolate animal sculptures and there they spent a good five minutes negotiating the division of the animals between them. Thankfully Piccolo had made sure that there were two different monkey sculptures so each of them got one. 

After that was taken care of, the girls were introduced to Capsule Corp’s newest guest. When Raditz walked into the room, Trunks saw Piccolo straighten up and cross his arms, letting his glare carry a full weight of intimidation. Raditz purposefully wasn’t meeting his attention.

“This is Mr. Raditz, he’ll be staying with us for a while,” Bulma said as she introduced the girls to him.

“Hello!” They both chirped before Bulla asked “What’s that thing around your waist?”

“It’s my tail.”

“Oh wow you have a tail?!”

“Indeed I do.” Raditz unwound his tail from his waist so the girls could see the full length of the monkey tail. It was longer than Trunks had imagined it to be, but then again his expectations were based mainly on the old stories he’d heard. It looked like it could be prehensile based on the amount of control Raditz had over it.

Pan was waving her hands around in delight and while waving his tail out of her grasp Raditz was unprepared for Bulla’s sudden lunge for it and she managed to grab a hold of the end. Raditz let out a sharp yelp and Trunks felt his ki sharply decline. Wait, what had happened?

His parents didn’t seem to share his confusion. “Bulla!” Bulma scolded as she grabbed at Bulla’s arm and made her release her grip, “You shouldn’t yank on people like that! You didn’t even ask if you could touch his tail.”

“I’m sorry Mr. Raditz, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Bulla hung her head in her patented, ‘guilt my way out of trouble’ tactic.

“Should have kept up that tail training Raditz,” Vegeta commented snidely. 

Raditz did not look very forgiving as he eyed the girls. “Vegeta, I see which one matches your mate’s hair, but who is the other one?”

“I’m Son Pan! And I’m gonna be a fighter like my Grandpa!”

“She’s Kakarot’s granddaughter via his eldest. I would advise against trying to throw your weight around with her, she’s far stronger now then you ever were.” Raditz eyed her warily and wrapped his tail firmly back around his waist.

“Pan, we need to be leaving now,” interrupted Piccolo, “Your mother expects you home soon.”

“Okay, we can fly fast. I just need to put my animals away,” Pan said and she began to load up her backpack before waving goodbye to everyone.

“Did you have a fun day with Mr. Piccolo?” Bulma asked her daughter after they left.

“Yep! We got to see penguins, they walked funny.” Bulla said and began to imitate the waddling.

“Isn’t she cute?” Bulma asked the newest inhabitant.

“Adorable.” Raditz said it like it was a threat.

“Oh, why are you so grumpy. She’s just a little girl,” chided Bulma.

“Forgive me,” Raditz ground out, “but I’m not one for falling for the charms of a Saiyan child. I’ll keep my distance.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Bulma.

“It’s an inherent trait that Saiyan children have evolved to possess. They appear outwardly charming and non-threatening to manipulate inhabitants of planets into thinking they’re defenseless and lulling them into a false sense of security. You can easily see how it would be advantageous for a soldier if a planet assumes they need to be protected rather than realizing they are the true threat.”

“Oh that’s not that special, all children regardless of species have cuteness as a defense mechanism. It’s why baby animals are so cute,” Bulma retorted.

Raditz seemed to be weighing his words again, shooting a long glance at Vegeta who was glaring back. “Be that as it may, Saiyans have honed the general trait into a finely pointed weapon. Why do you think Saiyans have such an extended adolescence, it’s in order to maintain this facade for longer periods of time.”

“That's why I looked like I was still eight for years?” asked Trunks. He’d wondered for years why he had been stuck looking so young. He knew kids his age were hitting growth spurts and he was stuck with the same height he had when he was still just a kid.

“That would be part of it. An extended youth means more time to infiltrate multiple planets, giving the child plenty of time to find the planet's strongest inhabitants.”

“So that they can fight them? But what if they’re too strong for the kids? Surely your information gathering has to fail to give you the full story sometimes,” Bulma asked.

Vegeta let out a low growl, “Do we have to be discussing this.”

“Yes,” replied Bulma, “it’s interesting and more information than you ever saw fit to inform me about.” Vegeta grumbled some more and left the room and its conversation behind.

Raditz looked at Vegeta’s retreating form warily but seemed to relax once he had left the room. “To answer your question, yes of course sometimes the planet’s inhabitants can be more strong than a Saiyan child, or even a squad of Saiyan children can handle. That’s where the defense mechanism comes into play again. The inhabitants aren’t always going to see a threat in their midst but see a child with raw potential that could be trained and harnessed. This is a reaction you often see the most pronounced in only the strongest, the desire to take them under their protection and to provide tutelage to hone their natural abilities.”

“Huh, well that puts the year Gohan spent with Piccolo in a new light, and explains some other things too. So Saiyan kids are some sort of brood parasite, or would a better way to describe it be they can promote alloparenting?”

Oh no, that was his mother’s scientist enthusiasm. She was probably going to pick Raditz’s brain on this topic more later, which wasn’t exactly something Trunks wanted to stick around and hear about.

Still it was something to think about. All Trunks could think about was his childhood with people constantly calling him cute upon first meeting before changing their tune and calling him dangerous once Trunks tried to make some fun for himself. He remembered ChiChi once loudly bemoaning to his mother about “How can two boys be that adorable when they’re being that destructive.” That and a thousand other comments that had stuck in his brain suddenly clicking into place.

Besides if what Raditz was saying was true, it also might explain a bit how Bulla and Pan had seemed to be able to weaponize their cuteness and use it as a cudgel to bludgeon everyone else into letting them get their way.

Even Trunks knew he fell to this. He’d bicker with Bulla, well as much as he could bicker with a munchkin. But all too often he still found himself doing what she wanted.

Or what about the way  _ Beerus _ was around Bulla. By now Bulla was clearly his favorite mortal now considering how every time Beerus happened to stop by he tried to casually talk Vegeta or Bulma into taking him to meet their daughter, always asking for updates and once even waiting around for two hours for Bulla to get home from a trip. Trunks remembered that time because his mother had delivery from gourmet restaurants sent to their home for the rest of the afternoon as they waited for her to return.

Huh, there might be something there to what Raditz was talking about.

  
  


Soon it was time for dinner. They gathered around the table that had the two roast 15 pound turkeys his grandmother had spent the day cooking. Normally this would have allotted for some leftovers but with another adult Saiyan eating it was up in the air.

“Marron has elected to eat dinner with Mom and Dad,” Bulma explained as she carved one of the turkeys while Vegeta took the other, “I think she wants to pick my Dad’s brain about the qualities of her little Godpad. She’s refused to let me take a look at it, I think I might have shown a little too much enthusiasm in seeing how it worked. I think she’s worried I’m going to want to do a teardown. Which is ridiculous, I’m a grown woman, I can resist the temptation.”

“Daddy,” Bulla asked once they were all seated and had begun eating, “did you have a tail like Mr. Raditz?”

“Yes, Vegeta, what happened to your tail?” Raditz didn’t so much ask but demand from Vegeta an answer.

Vegeta grimaced,“It was cut off by the fat man who lives with the talking Cat who cultivates the Senzu beans.”

Bulma sighed, “Vegeta, you know their names are Yajirobe and Korin.”

“He doesn’t get a name, he cut off my tail.” If it was possible for a grown man to sound like a pouting child, this was it, even more so when he added, “And neither does his cat-mate.”

Bulma rolled her eyes as she took another bite of her turkey. “He only did it to save you from destroying the Earth, serves you right.”

“Hmph.”

“You know on the way to Namek I got all the details from Krillin and Gohan about your guys' fight. All they could talk about some nights going over again and again the events of that day and what could they have done differently to gain a different outcome. Gohan especially, was so upset about the things he did wrong. One of them was how to cut off your tail sooner.” Bulma drawled as she played with her fork over her dinner, Trunks was reminded that his mother may have forgiven Vegeta for the things he’s done over the years, but she also never forgot them.

“Do you have a point to this?” Vegeta cut in eyeing Bulma warily.

“I don’t miss the tails.” She took another bite of dinner and took her time to chew it before breaking the silence with a seemingly offhand, “You know I was once trapped in a 15 foot box when Goku turned into that giant monkey and then proceeded to destroy the castle we were trapped in. I thought I was going to die that night.”

Vegeta groused some more but Trunks saw that flicker go through his dad’s ki energy, the words from his mother bothered him. Trunks wondered what bothered his dad more, that Goku and Bulma had had so many adventures together as kids or that Goku’s Saiyan side had threatened Bulma.

Raditz however was on a different topic, “You turned into your Ozaru form and were still bested?”

“Yeah, Gohan said he was outmaneuvered because he was outnumbered,” said Bulma. “Also Gohan also went into his- Ozaru form was it? Regardless, it clinched it. See Vegeta, you shouldn’t pout so much, you cut off Gohan’s tail too.”

“Oh he wasn’t even that attached to it, he had it for no more than 20 minutes. And he couldn’t control his Ozaru form, he was as much a threat to everyone else there than he was to me.” Huh. Not everyday he heard his dad being snippy.

“Well I’m sorry if you miss yours but frankly I’m happier knowing that neither of our children is going to risk turning into a giant monkey on the full moon.” Bulma had abandoned her dinner in favor of propping her arms on the table and resting her head on her folded hands.

“They probably wouldn’t even be the traditional brown anyway, they’d be some bizarre color,” Vegeta grumped, mostly to himself.

“Outnumbered, Vegeta,  _ you _ lost to a bunch of Earthlings who managed to beat you with their  _ teamwork, _ ” Raditz spat out the words like they were worthy of mockery and contempt.

Vegeta gave Raditz a long look, “Funny thing Raditz, losing sometimes has its benefits, you can learn from your mistakes and improve. Weakness is not a perpetual state. Instead of cowering behind someone stronger, some of us took a disparity of power as a challenge and threw ourselves into it.

“I’ll let you say many things about Earth and its Earthlings, but you should not underestimate the drive to improve, one which you always lacked. And from our count you’ve been dead for close to 20 years, do you really think I’ve spent that entire time not dedicating myself to combat? Or Kakarot?”

“Vegeta,” Bulma interrupted, “we are at the dinner table, stow your boasting for later.”

Vegeta harrumphed but went back to ripping a bite off the large drumstick.

Bulla spent the rest of dinner asking some more questions about tails and what having them was like. Raditz got tired of accommodating her and answered mostly in varying levels of grunts and it ended up being Vegeta who answered her questions.

  
  


After dinner Bulla was put down for bed and Bulma announced she was getting out some alcohol because, “I think we could all use it right now.”

They sat around while Bulma poured out glasses of whisky, she handed two tall glasses to Vegeta and Raditz but only had a small glass for herself and Trunks. Trunks would have protested the kiddie drink, it would barely get him buzzed, but he was also very aware he was just grounded and didn’t want to exacerbate the situation by asking for more.

“It’s just so strange to see Vegeta like this,” Raditz said as he took the offered drink from Bulma.

“What, with a family? Yeah it must be a big change of pace for you,” responded Bulma.

Raditz took a long drink as he thought over his words, “Even just being in a red relationship. Black I could more easily see. The advantages are more apparent.”

“What does that mean?” Bulma asked, and Trunks wondered why she sounded so offended.

“Oh, that’s just Raditz being a redfrain,” said Vegeta.

Bulma turned to her husband, “Okay haven’t heard that word before, that’s going to require an explanation.”

Vegeta sighed, “He refrains from red romance. Sometimes some Saiyans are only interested in one form of romance they’re blackshuns or redfrains.”

“You say that like you didn’t once claim both of those titles,” countered Raditz.

If Vegeta was any other person Trunks would have said he  _ cringed _ at hearing Raditz’s words, “Yes well, it’s been twenty years, I’ve grown out of that phase.”

“You took a mate! You who always disparaged those who sought relationships be it red or black!”

“Not everyone was interested in spreading their legs for indiscretions with Zarbon or members of the Ginyu force,” Vegeta said scornfully. “I maintained my dignity, never lowered myself to settle for anyone but my mate and my kismesis.”

Trunks was dying of embarrassment now and downed his drink in one long go. Trying very hard not to think of some of the information his mother overshared when she was drunk rambling and the knowledge that the first time his parents got together was also the same night as his conception. Oh boy, way to much details about his father’s sex life.

“Zarbon, you know that name sounds vaguely familiar,” Bulma said slowly and thoughtfully, “Did I ever meet him?”

Vegeta sighed. “Briefly on Namek, if I recall correctly. He was pale green in hue and had long green hair.”

“Oh yeah, him I remember. He was kinda attractive, until he got all ugly.”

“Zarbon was never attractive,” argued Vegeta.

“Says you,” sniped Raditz.

“He was prissy and purposefully held back his full power in order to satiate his vanity, there is nothing attractive about that,” Vegeta lectured.

“Well he was vain for a reason,” Bulma retorted, “I would be envious of hair like that.”

Trunks was so done with this entire conversation. “Okay, I do not need to hear my parents arguing if some dead guy was hot or not.” He was pretty sure he was dead anyways, he knew the only one of Frieza’s force to make it off Namek was Frieza.

Raditz apparently hadn’t gotten the memo as he jerked back in surprise. “Zarbon is dead?”

“Yep. I killed him on Namek, blew a hole through his chest before I finished him off with an energy blast that vaporized his body.” Vegeta sounded more and more pleased with every word he shared.

“You killed Zarbon.” Raditz repeated dumbly.

“And Dodoria. And the entire Ginyu squad,” Vegetea continued, as he recollected his memories with a clear fondness, “I took Guldo’s head clean off and got to personally vaporized the corpses of the rest of them. Though not before Ginyu spent two decades in the body of a frog.”

Trunks had vague recollection of the frogman being a thing when Frieza attacked the Earth. He had no idea who the rest of these people were but he could see that hearing about their deaths had stunned Raditz.

“The Ginyu squad too,” Raditz was stunned.

“Do you remember all those times I told you I’d make them pay? Well I kept my promise,” Vegeta gloated and took a drink from his glass.

“But how? They were Frieza’s elite warriors, and they were so far above your power.”

“I’ve told you, I’ve gotten stronger since your death, I’ve achieved strength beyond what I could have once imagined.”

“So you killed all of them?” Raditz demanded, anger seeping into his words. “What, were they just another series of deaths to you? Did you even give them their due, honor their deaths and bury them?”

“No, why should I pay them respects?” Vegeta scoffed. “All the suffering they put us through over the years, the suffering they put  _ me _ through, of course I rejoiced in their demise. I had no lingering fondness nor respect for them.”

“But Zarbon, or Jeice and Burter, they were not weakling inhabitants of a planet we were sent to handle. They were strong combatants and should be honored as such.”

“Oh, you can stow your fondness, it wasn’t like they respected you with your paltry strength. They only deigned to be with you because you were ready and willing.”

Oh boy, Trunks wasn’t going to lie and say he began to understand all this talk of death and respects of people he had never heard of before tonight, even if it seemed to matter a lot to Raditz and his father. But even he was a bit taken aback at hearing Vegeta basically calling Raditz easy.

“Okay, I think that’s enough for me for tonight.” Bulma stood up and put her empty glass on the coffee table. “Trunks, I think it’s time you headed to bed too.”

“Let the boy stay,” said Vegeta. “He was the one who brought this situation upon us.”

Bulma sighed and excused herself. The rest of them sat in silence for several minutes before Raditz finally gathered his thoughts to respond to Vegeta. “So, that’s who you are. Someone who doesn’t recognize deaths of those lesser than yourself. I bet you barely even registered my own passing.”

“I wouldn’t say that, I was very aware of how you died. Pleading for mercy from those weaker than you who managed to outmaneuver you. And at the same time there was Kakarot unafraid to meet his own death, demanding it even, all in an effort to stop you. Your disparity was never more clear.”

“Yes well it’s  _ easy _ to be  _ noble _ when you are relying on magic to undo your own death,” Raditz put a special disdain on some of the words to make clear how little he thought of the words.

“Dying never gets easier. I can say that from experience.” Vegeta examined his now empty glass.

“Oh, so you’ve died too? And where brought back with the Dragon Balls I presume?”

“Yes, on two occasions, perhaps a third depending on how you count but I don’t consider it significant. One time was to Frieza and another of my own volition.”

“Oh more magic and utilizing these Dragon Balls. How many times have you wished on them, then?”

Vegeta was eyeing him sharply, “What is your point?”

“If you can wish back the dead then why is Planet Vegeta still space rubble! You say you have no lingering fondness for Frieza or his men, fine, but what of our people, the people you’re Prince of? How many times have you had access to Dragon Balls that could undo our race’s demise? Every time you’ve neglected to do so is another time you’ve chosen to let the past stand as it is.” Raditz hissed out his words, letting the accusation fill the room with its presence.

“Yes, the thought had occurred to me once or twice.” Vegeta stood up and walked over to the decanter to pour himself another glass. “But several reasons would prevent it from being an action worth taking.” He turned around to face Raditz as he took a sip of his drink.

“Firstly, it would be out of the ability of the Dragon Balls to resurrect both a planet and a planet’s population, at least it was that way for a while. It was only more recently that matters have changed.

For the second, not even accounting for how long it’s been and if their souls have moved on in Other World or been reincarnated by that time. I’m amazed the boys managed to bring you back, but I guess you were still in Hell all this time and hadn’t yet had your soul cleansed.”

He walked back to the couch and took his seat. “And third, even if the trick is possible now? What would be the point of it? To bring back several thousand servants of Frieza? Frieza’s might was reduced when he destroyed Planet Vegeta, but it was crippled when Kakarot first defeated him. The years he spent dead have greatly reduced his force and from what I’ve heard it’s still down from it’s peak. I’m not going to resurrect him an army that knew nothing but serving under the Cold Empire.”

“But you are the Prince, you are named after the planet and its ruling family. Given the chance wouldn’t you want to bring that all back?”

“No, I care not for ruling and I’ve found residence on a planet that now Frieza dares not even approach. So no, I’m not going to wish back a dead planet. Let it and all the Saiyans that died with it rest amongst the stardust.”

There wasn’t much more to talk about after that. Raditz was clearly trying to not start an argument on the matter with Vegeta and left not that long after.

Trunks wasn’t yet ready to turn in for the night. The previous conversation had stirred some thoughts into him that he needed to address with his father. He got the bottle of alcohol and poured himself another glass before offering it to his dad who turned it down.

“So,” Trunks began as he took a seat nearer to his father than he’d been sitting prior, “You fought Gohan when you first came to Earth. And you tried to kill him when he was just a little kid.

“I did.” Vegeta acknowledged.

“Like, actually kill him.” Trunks felt it was worth repeating since it seemed so unbelievable to him.

“Boy are you going to repeat yourself again? Speak your mind.” It was a demand for Trunks to speak his plain points and not dance around what he wanted to get at.

“It’s just weird, I guess that’s the word I want, to think about. It doesn’t make sense, everything is so different now. What made things change so much from that to now?”

Vegeta gave a long pause before he answered. “My relationship with Kakarot was what necessitated the shift.”

Trunks rolled his eyes, “I don’t care about you and  _ Goku _ , I want to know about everyone else. I’m asking about you and Gohan.”

“But it was because of Kakarot. Yes, after Namek I respected the boy to an extent, I had to after seeing him stand up to Frieza even when he was thrashed around like a rag doll, but that wasn’t what made me change my view on him.” Vegeta sighed and rubbed a hand over his face as he continued. “Having a kismesis entails a sense of responsibility to your partner’s offspring, and even if I hadn't yet been persuaded by the value of having children of my own I could see that Kakarot was. Granted, there was no shortage of other people who were concerned for the boy’s wellbeing and I was more than happy to let them take over watching over the boy and his well being.

“After Kakarot died with Cell, I felt a sense of obligation in the aftermath.”

“That’s why you do that weird naming thing for Goten?”

“Had I known that it would be later discovered I wouldn’t have done it, besides it was improper how I went about doing it. Should have waited till you were both older. But yes, it was that which motivated me to do so.”

Neither of them said anything for a while and Vegeta eventually made to leave. Trunks couldn’t just let it stand as it had been and called over to him when he was about to go through the doorway, “When I made my wish, I thought you would be happier to be reunited with Raditz. I didn’t realize it would be quite like this.”

Vegeta sighed once again, but didn’t turn back to Trunks. “Raditz is a remnant of my past, one that has remained the same as he was while I have changed. It’s unsettling for all of us. Goodnight.”

~

The next couple of days were tense for Trunks, as Raditz adjusted back to the land of the living. He was jumpy about the most random things and Trunks didn’t know if he was always like that or it was a development from his time spent being dead. Trunks had learned that he did not want to be in a room alone with Raditz and Vegeta- the tension in the air was smothering. He’d mostly been in his lab working on things since he couldn’t play any video games.

He’d checked his messages and it seemed like Shenron had made everyone in the group believe Marron had some accident that had required Trunks and Goten taking her to a hospital. He got plenty of worried texts asking for an update. Goten had responded with a good update to the situation and Trunks reminded Calcula that she was now in charge of checking everyone out on time.

He felt weird about responding to them now, his whole image of his friendship with the group had changed. Sure they didn’t remember the conversation but Trunks wasn’t going to forget how it went down. He hadn’t been in on Goten’s sudden spur of the moment confession but he had seen it’s after effects. Now he knew how they would react if he ever wanted to share more than the vague obfuscations about his life and it wasn’t what he might have wanted.

He was grateful when Goten finally came over that Friday saving him from the purgatory Trunks had found himself in. They had their sparring session in the morning and were now relaxing and hanging out in Trunks’s workshop.

Trunks was at his workbench working on the complete teardown of one of the houses’s domestic droids, it had been malfunctioning in weird glitchy ways and he finally got permission to attempt a complete rebuild, and he was  _ stoked.  _ Goten was in his usual spot, on the couch in the corner, curled up under a quilt Trunks’s grandma had made and was drawing away on his tablet.

It was nice when they spent time like this, both in their own grooves working just sharing the same space. They didn’t even need to talk to each other though they did, occasionally they’d show each other a funny looking mechanical part or the latest sketch that had been made.

This routine started years ago when Goten was bored during his visits when Trunks wanted to go into a work binge and grabbed his pencils and notepad. Gradually his pile of cushions in the corner had been replaced over the years with a more and more permanent setup, and now here they were. They had a half fridge that they kept filled with snacks and drinks by the couch and sometimes Goten would lean his tablet up on top of it to have some table space.

They would spend hours in here together, not needing to say anything at all, just enjoying being in a shared space.

Today though Trunks could tell that Goten was getting twitchy and tired of drawing. He heard Goten getting up and wandering over behind Trunks while he was working at disassembling the motor control center of the droid. He  _ felt _ Goten reach over and drape his upper torso over Trunks’s back, coming to rest his chin on Trunks’s shoulder.

“Ten...” Trunks sighed and put the tools down and moved his hands to grip Goten’s arms that were slowly wrapping their way around his neck.

“I’m bored,” Goten whined softly near Trunks’s ear.

“And you want me to entertain you?” Trunks asked with a sigh.

“Maybe a little,” Goten let his hands wander down the front of Trunks’s shirt, running them down his torso before as he trailed a kiss along his neck. Trunks had a pretty good idea of what kind of entertainment Goten had in mind.

“Mine.” Goten said as he bit into Trunks’s shoulder. Well there went wearing tanks for a while as he felt Goten suck at his skin hard enough to bruise.

“No, pretty sure that's my shoulder you’re turning red and my abs you’re stroking.”

“No, you must be confused. It’s mine.” Goten reiterated. “Just like the rest of you, all mine.”

Trunks laughed “Yeah okay, fine. Yours.” He agreed. It was a fair bargain, because that meant Goten was all Trunks’s. One day everyone was going to know that Goten was Trunks’s, no more hiding, no more secrecy. Trunks didn’t want to wait, but he would let Goten have all the time he needed to be ready for that. Besides, there was no real rush, who cared when they told people, everyone would find out eventually. Trunks would give everyone at least a heads up before the wedding. Probably.

Trunks turned around and pulled Goten into a proper kiss but pulled back when Goten started going for more and letting his hands drift further down Trunks’s body.

“Goten you know what I said about doing stuff in front of my babies.”

“Your machines are not watching, they are not sentient,” Goten huffed.

“Don’t say such things, you’ll hurt their feelings,” Trunks was not a weird mech fetish boy, he was just a courteous owner of tech.

Goten rolled his eyes and pulled him into another kiss. Trunks decided to try to change tactics. “Are you sure you want to be doing this where anyone could walk in on us? Especially with Raditz now wandering around.”

“Fine.” Goten relented after catching a few more kisses against the side of Trunks’s face before backing up so they were just looking at each other, with Goten’s arms still around Trunks’s neck.

“So how is the new housemate? Is Raditz all that you hoped he’d be?”

“Not really? I don’t know what I expected but it wasn’t this. He’s so jumpy about everything and he and Dad aren’t friends at all, they’re constantly sniping at each other. Raditz is also super judgmental about my parents being together, so that’s great.”

“What, why?”

“It’s a dumb anti-regular romance thing he’s doing, Dad even says there’s a name for it. He’s like dismissive of red romance.”

“Huh, that’s weird,” Goten stilled. “Speaking of Raditz, you sense him coming?”

Oh yeah, his signature was still one Trunks was getting used to noticing. “Yeah, he’s heading this way.”

Sighing, they disentangled from each other and Goten went back to his couch by the time Raditz entered the room with a tray of snacks. He looked different now that he was wearing some normal clothes that Bulma had delivered, but he still stood out with his hair that would have made Rapunzel jealous.

“The yellow haired woman told me to bring these to you,” Raditz sneered.

“Yeah that’s my Grandma Panchy,” said Trunks.

“She called this your workshop.”

“Yeah, I do work on mechanics while Goten likes to draw in the corner.”

Raditz scoffed scornfully, “A technician and an artist, not very noble pursuits. That’s the type of work that is done by the lowly levels of society.”

“Hey, we did our training earlier today, now it’s time to do other stuff. And don’t let my mom hear you call being a technician lowly.”

“Besides, I like drawing, it’s fun, so who cares what other people think?” argued Goten.

Raditz looked like he was biting back some comments before he finally settled on, “Yes, that does seem to be the way of this planet, who cares what’s proper for Saiyans, only what’s  _ fun _ to your Earthling sensibilities. Never mind the centuries of tradition behind the proper ways.”

“Well, if you’re willing to talk about those centuries of traditions, I wouldn’t mind hearing about it,” said Goten.

Raditz gave them a sharp look, “Yes, the reason you brought me back, to have a source of answers to your questions. I was wondering why I hadn’t been hearing more about them.”

“Well I  _ wanted _ to give you a few days to settle in,” Trunks rolled his words to encompass the whole of his magnanimity. “Besides I was also waiting for Goten to be here before I started asking stuff.”

“Well I’m here now.”

“Very well,” said Raditz, “but I’m not sitting around in this room surrounded by these mechanics, we’re going to the domestic chamber.”

“Living room,” Trunks corrected him, not for the first time. Apparently in space everything had weird names.

After they relocated Trunks tried to think of where to start. He had a feeling it would be a while before he could get to his real questions about what his father had been like as a child. When he had first been planning to wish back Raditz, he’d been operating under the assumption that they were closer friends than it seems they turned out to be. Asking about their time spent working under Frieza didn’t seem like the best plan now that he knew more about their situation.

Instead they started with safer questions to warm up, Goten wanted to know what a planet where most of its inhabitants could fly looked like, what was the architecture like? Trunks asked for more stories of what Planet Vegeta was really like, what were the people and the planet itself like? Raditz had to preface his answers that he was only a child when he was assigned to the squad with Vegeta and Nappa and thus could only give brief recollections.

It continued on for a bit, but Trunks could tell that Goten was waiting to ask  _ something, _ and finally he couldn’t hold it back any longer and he let loose with “Can you tell me more about kismesis?”

Trunks rolled his eyes, “Why would you wanna ask about  _ that _ ?”

“I dunno, it’s interesting and I’ve been curious,” Goten was more defensive than Trunks thought was necessary. “Besides who else am I ever going to get any answers from? Asking Vegeta is just asking him to tell me more about his relationship with my dad, and I don’t want to think about them  _ at all _ .” Okay, that was a good point.

“Ha, that’s a laugh. I can’t even begin to imagine Vegeta being willing to have a conversation about  _ sentiments _ ,” Raditz rolled the word as if trying to show how much scorn he was giving the idea.

Trunks sighed. Raditz was reminding him of complaints his mom had made about how closed off his father was. He’d never forget hearing his mother call him a tsundere, which had happened on more than one occasion.

“Alright, I suppose you both are of the age where you should learn about it from s _ omewhere _ and Vegeta is completely incompetent at doing the job. I’ll explain black romance to you.” Raditz settled in on the couch and Goten and Trunks leaned forward to hear. “At its heart a kismesis is about drive. Drive to be better than your kismesis, they are the one you can’t stand to be lesser than and so it drives you to improve yourself. With that drive comes a hatred, a passion that fuels you.”

“That sounds like a normal rivalry,” Trunks pointed out, and maybe he was skeptical of the whole concept. All he’d heard made it seem like a fancy alien excuse for someone to be allowed to hate-fuck someone without it being considered cheating.

“It’s not dissimilar to the concept, but a kismesis is so much more than your base rival. It’s not just an opponent you wish to defeat. It’s something much deeper than that. It’s saying that there is no one by whose hand you’d rather die. No end you’d prefer.”

“So it’s part death wish and part wanting to kill the person you’re with?” asked Goten. “That seems pretty dark.”

“You’re focusing too much on the end, a kismesis should be a lifelong relationship of driving each other to further heights. For a healthy kismesissitude you need to have some baseline levels of admiration for your partner. You need to respect them and the person they are, which makes all their flaws and negative qualities all the more infuriating and maddening. That frustration, that hate, is what a kismesissitude thrives on.”

“Okay, but making an entire system of romance around that? Like that’s just so weird.” Trunks never really had given the whole concept that much thought on the larger level, he always just wrote it off as another weird quirk to how his dad and Goku were.

“You’re not the first to express skepticism,” said Raditz. “Some Saiyans had differing opinions on which was the more worthwhile pursuit, there were those who favored the ease of red and the domesticity of it. While others lived for the fight and sought out black affections and the challenge they provide. Saiyans were a race of warriors, is it not surprising that black romance took precedence for many over red. A romance expressed in combat and drive as opposed to the softness of red. Almost all of the great Saiyan romance stories were black with only a handful involving red romances.

“So there’s stories now?” Goten perked up.

“Yes, but I am not able or willing to recount my vague recollections, you’re better off trying to ascertain them through different means.” 

Goten sighed, disappointed. “Okay fine, but can you explain the difference between them? To me it just seems like a fancy excuse to have two people that you’re with.”

“Red is a care for the other's well being, a wish to nurture and protect them. While black is someone you are driven to surpass. It was said that mates were who you fought to protect while kismesis were who you fought with and alongside.”

“Can you be both? Like being red and black for someone?” Goten asked.

Raditz shuddered, “No, it’s strongly inadvisable. Vacillating between such disparate emotions leads to instability and volatile results.”

That seemed like an oddly foreboding warning to Trunks, he wondered how much that was a problem on Planet Vegeta for Raditz to have such a strong reaction to the idea. “But you’re supposed to have both right? So a mate and a kismesis? Like how my Dad has both my mom and Goku?”

“Yes,” Raditz scoffed, “It was the alleged ideal to have each partner. But there were those who preferred only one system of sentiment over the other. I never saw the point in red affections myself. Too soft and meek.”

“How did most kismesis meet?” asked Goten.

“Most Saiyans found their kismesis when they ended up working on the same squad for missions. Working together in close quarters competing to see who could be the best, tensions would flare and sometimes relationships would develop. It was seen as fortuitous to have two kismesis on the same squad, it often led to improved motivations and performance from the soldiers. My parents were a bit of an inverse as they also met on a shared mission but ended up becoming mates.

“You’re talking about my grandparents.” Goten sat forward and it was plain to see that he was interested in the topic now. Trunks couldn’t begrudge this curiosity, it must be cool to get a chance to hear more about family Goten had known nothing about. If Trunks wasn’t so confident that his father would refuse to discuss the topic he might have asked about his paternal grandparents himself.

“Yes, my father was Bardock, a warrior of the most capable caliber and he took pity and defended Gine when they were assigned to the same squad. She was much weaker than him and without his protection she would not have survived the mission. They developed a mutual fondness for each other and when she retired from active duty work to work in a butcher shop, they maintained their relationship. They would go on to have me and later Kakarot.”

They talked some more about Goten’s grandparents, Goten asking all sorts of questions about them, only some of which Raditz was able to answer. Partway through Vegeta passed through the room on the way to the kitchen, pausing slightly as he left the room and Trunks figured he was trying to ascertain if he’d been the topic of conversation.

Raditz was talking about Goku now. “Given our age difference, and disparity in our power rankings, even if the planet had not been destroyed I don’t think Kakarot and I would have been that close of brothers like the two of you.”

“Uh, you’re thinking of Gohan,” Goten corrected slowly.

Trunks was similarly bemused, “Are you okay dude, Gohan is Goten’s brother, not me.”

Raditz rolled his eyes, “Yes, the older one is your brother by blood, but as you’ve both been named under the terms of the royal registry you would be recognized as brothers by rite.”

“WHAT!” Someone was yelling and oh it was Trunks. Goten too looked similarly stricken by this information. “What are you talking about!”

“Vegeta!” Raditz called into the kitchen, “how much have you been keeping from these boys?”

There was some commotion as Vegeta came to the doorway, carrying his sandwich he had been in the middle of eating.

“These two were unaware that they’re brothers by Saiyan law.”

Vegeta stilled and it was only now looking at his father’s panicked face that Trunks could feel his heart stop at the realization that Raditz might actually be speaking the truth.

“Yes, under Saiyan Law, but we are not on Planet Vegeta, we are on Earth,  _ Raditz.”  _ Vegeta hissed his name like that alone bore the weight of the threat before turning to Trunks and addressing him, “I’m well aware that this is the first time you’re hearing of this and you two don’t consider yourself as such.”

“But do you?” Trunks heard himself asking. Oh dear gods what if his father thought of Goten and Trunks as brothers. How would he take hearing about their relationship  _ then.  _ That was a whole can of worms that did not need opening.

“You were born on Earth under Earth society, that's all that you should concern yourselves with. Not the laws of a Planet that was gone long before you were born.” Vegeta ground out before turning back to Raditz. “Watch your words Raditz. Remember what I said about not tolerating you upsetting the boys.”

Raditz wasn’t having the scolding. “How was I supposed to know how far your neglect of your responsibilities went?”

That ignited a growl from Vegeta as he and Raditz began yelling at each other over the matter. Trunks stopped paying attention as he looked over at Goten and could practically read his thoughts from his face alone. The shock and mild horror setting in by the revelation, and oh there would be some  _ conversations _ about this later.

The only thing Trunks could be thankful for was that Marron hadn’t been here to see this scene as he could just  _ hear _ her laughing at them.

  
  


#  **(Marron)**

Marron rolled over on her bed clutching her Godpad up in a guest room on the third floor of the domestic dome of Capsule Corp. Her parents were going to be gone till next week on their vacation so she was stuck here with nothing to entertain her but Raditz and her Godpad. And sure, Raditz was fun to listen to, especially if you could get him talking about Vegeta. But he wasn’t the shiniest thing that Shenron had brought. She had been spending most of her days since their return up in her room exploring the Godpad and its many apps.

There was some app called Godtube which was a video site, but it appeared to have content uploaded from all 12 universes? Every account had a little number after their username but the numbers only seemed to go up to twelve. She was pretty sure that most of the people on it were gods from the various universes, Gowasu10 and Heles2 had just uploaded the most recent videos and subsequent research named them as gods. She’d found some footage of Goku without too much searching, and wow he was an unpopular man across the multiverse. She even found footage of the Tournament of Power but she decided to save that can of worms for a different day. She knew Goten and Trunks bore some resentment about the whole matter and might react poorly to being offered the opportunity to watch the event in 16k.

But also it was kind of boring. Most of the videos were live feeds of events, with no real mind towards presentation. Maybe gods just had the time or omniscience to know where the clip they wanted was. But there sure were a bunch of mediocre commentary vlog channels that offered thoughts with little mind to presentation or pizzazz.

She wondered what it might be like to upload a video with better editing and a bit more personality. Marron read the sign up page, noting that it asked her for her Universe designation. She thought about it, making an account to upload some of the footage she’d taken on the trip, and paused on the page for a while. She decided she’d come back once she got herself more acquainted with what else the divine web had.

The other source of her fascination was an online encyclopedia full of information about the various universes and all their inhabitants. At first she read the page for Earth and noticed that it didn’t say much about the one in Universe 7, mostly talking about the destruction of the Earth of Universe 6 and then how it was brought back. There was a big section on the Universe 7 page that might as well have had the heading “the Goku incident” where it talked about the whole thing with Zamasu and how a future timeline was erased and why there were now two Zenos. In fact there was a whole page dedicated to that incident alone.

After diving into that she decided to see what the page on Saiyans looked like. There was one big page but it had multiple subsections devoted to discussing the differences between Universe 6 and Universe 7 Saiyans. She skimmed most of it, maybe she’d bother letting Trunks and Goten read about it later if they wanted.

She jumped down to the interesting stuff over in the Sociology section and saw a brief section talking about the two forms of romantic expression common in Saiyans. That led her to clicking the links to a central page about different forms of romance, and wow there were so many across the universes! She settled in to read more, she finally found the good shit.

So it looked like red romance was the most common form of romance throughout the Universe’s and it’s many species mostly because it was often associated with two or more parents raising children together. But there were many forms of it, some species had forms that were tied exclusively to reproduction while others were more about pair-bonding between partners. The page was long and lousy with anecdotes about different species from different universes and their different forms of red romance.

Scrolling down halfway down the page took her to the sections that started to vary. She saw that black romance was less common and the page on it noted only a handful of species observed it, one of the listed was Saiyans. Marron was curious as to what other species partook in it, and went to the page on kismesis. She looked at the short list of species and their universes and saw something that caught her eye Alternian Trolls Universe 13. That was weird, Marron thought there were only 12 universes? And yet here was a listing saying otherwise. Intrigued, she clicked onto the link and arrived at a page of the Alternian Trolls and opened a new tab about Universe 13.

The top of the page described how it had been wiped out by Zeno along with Universes 14-18 several ages back. Oh wow, so there had been entire universes that were just gone? Not wiped out and saved by No 17, but just eliminated? That was strange to think about.

But, she mused, how lucky she was that their histories were still recorded on the divine web. She went back to her last tab to read more about the Alternian Trolls who had kismesis. At least someone should remember them, she figured. Reading on she found that they actually had four types of romance, they had a red form and a black form, but they also had two more called moiralliance which was pale and auspisticeship which was ashen. Wow, so many and so colorful.

Morialliance and auspistice were platonic and seemed like a best friend thing and the other had three people but it was where one person was a mediator between two others who were in a toxic black relationship. So they had a form of romance dedicated to therapy, that’s weird. But perhaps useful if you have a bunch of people who were on the wrong side of the dysfunctional spectrum.

Marron closed the tab on the Trolls and went back to reading about the destruction of Universes 13-18. The multiverse was such a big place and there was so much information out there for her to read!

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author does not condone slut shamming others, Vegeta should not be seen as a model for emulation.
> 
> The extended adolescence is a thing from canon, it’s mentioned in the Jaco manga and demonstrated by how long Goku, Goten, and Trunks looked like kids. Not at all because Toei animation wanted to keep the boys looking as cute for as long as possible even when they should be hitting puberty at 14 and 13. 
> 
> Redfrains and blackshuns were terms I made up because I needed slang to describe things. In case it wasn’t clear:  
Redfrain: Red+Refrain: Person who isn’t interested in red romance (ie your typical sense of romance) and only interested in black romance. Raditz considers himself one.  
Blackshun: Black+Shun: Person who is not into kismesis and black romance. For example Gohan would technically be one because he only has eyes for Videl and they’re sweethearts.
> 
> You can also be both if you’re not into dating at all, be it because you’re not inclined or you’re at the stage of life where you’re angry little manchild who spends all of his free energy into being an unhappy servant of Frieza. 
> 
> I was completely taken with the mental image of Vegeta and Bulma bickering about if Zarbon was attractive or not. I’m sorry, you cannot convince me that Vegeta wasn’t an angry short little virgin and Raditz was treated like the slutty friend for having a sex drive. Now here is Vegeta with a happy marriage with Bulma, a kismesis rivalry with Goku, and much cringing at his younger self. Can’t blame Raditz for being thrown for a loop.
> 
> Is that Yajirobe/Korin joke inspired by TFS? Yes, yes it is.
> 
> So the brothers thing was an extension of the naming ritual I mentioned in last chapter. It was amusing to me to think about Saiyan family structures under the polyamours culture with red and black romance. Also wow Vegeta sure was quick to rectify the situation, wonder what that’s about.
> 
> Okay so there’s some homestuck references in this chapter because they amuse me to include. 
> 
> Alternian Trolls are the horned gray-skinned people you might have seen at conventions or in fanart. In Super it’s explained that there were 18 universes but 13-18 were destroyed by Zeno, I have decided that Universe 13 is the one Homestuck takes place in, which if you read Homestuck you know universal destruction is quite fitting. I aim for this fic to be readable to those who are unfamiliar with homestuck and I promise it’s only the tiniest hint of a crossover in this chapter. This mainly served as an excuse to have Marron read about them on her Godpad. 
> 
> Next chapter is going to finally get to be one of my favorites, because I finally get to have fun with the comedic potentials of alien puberty and Saiyan biology. It’s a fun time for you and me, much less so for the boys. Hoping to have it done sooner, what with the enforced lockdown we’re all under now.


	9. Got Your Mind On My Body And Your Body On My Mind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from “Cool For the Summer” by Demi Levoto. Betaed by Zesparia, who has been a great help getting me through the writing of this chapter.

##  **(Goten****)**

Goten hadn’t known what to think when Trunks was making his wish. He’d figured it would be something along the lines of what happened but hadn’t realized that Trunks was going to bring Raditz back. Goten thought it was kinda selfish to resurrect someone just to answer questions, even if Goten also had some of his own. This was reinforced even more when Goten had met Raditz again at Capsule Corp.

It was plain to see how uncomfortable and just seemingly _ unsettled _ Raditz was about Earth. Like he couldn’t quite understand or adjust to the idea of adjusting to this alien planet. Because to him it was Earth that was the strange place where nothing made sense.

Goten had always known he was part alien, it was just a fact of his life growing up, same as his brother and same as Trunks. But he’d never really thought about what it _ meant _ until the incident at the onsen when he was 11.

It had been not long after Frieza had come to Earth to show off his golden form, but before that space picnic where they met Universe 6 and the word kismesis was first mentioned to Earthling ears. Goten, Trunks, and Marron’s families had all decided to go to an onsen, or it was decided by some people and certain _ others _ were dragged into attending.

Hercule had recommended a place and Bulma had to rent out the entire inn because Vegeta threw a huge fit about sharing a naked hot spring with random Earthlings he wasn’t familiar with. Well he’d used other words and Goten wasn’t sure how much that was a neurotic alien thing who claimed a complex bath culture etiquette or just Vegeta was _ very _body shy and completely willing to throw a giant tantrum and lie through his teeth to get his way. Which, if true, made Vegeta an inspiration to Goten, now that he was old enough to appreciate it.

The dinner in the dining hall had been a big and loud affair and the onsen staff realized that they really did need to be running their kitchen at full capacity even with just the handful of guests. After dinner they all went for a soak in the gender segregated hot springs.

It was after the second time that Goten and Trunks were reprimanded for splashing too much that they finally settled down to try to relax in the hot water like everyone else. Goten got bored of looking at the scenery of the hot springs and moved on to studying the people. Ever since he got into drawing he found himself more tuned to studying people and how their bodies looked.

It was as he was sitting back and letting his mind wander that he noticed something… odd. He knew that a lot of the men present were into martial arts and being physically fit was a prerequisite, but there was a tangible difference in how Goku was built as compared to say Hercule or Krillin. Goku’s body looked like it had been sculpted from muscle, and a quick check told him that Vegeta and even Gohan’s bodies looked similarly well defined, even when he knew Gohan wasn’t serious about staying on top of his training like Vegeta and Goku. Sure Hercule and Krillin’s bodies had plenty of muscle, but they just didn’t compare.

Goten had remembered hearing Hercule talk once or twice about an old movie making trick to make your muscles look bigger was to be dehydrated while shooting, since it made the skin sit tightly against the muscles of the body. He’d even shown him some movies whose stars Hercule swore used the trick to look as good on camera as possible. And it was those movies that were the closest thing Goten could compare to the way the adult Saiyans in the hot springs looked.

But that didn’t make sense because everyone had just been eating out the inn’s kitchen. Goten remembered reading how digestion worked and that stomachs got bigger after eating, and that could take hours. But now barely an hour after devouring piles of food, his Dad didn’t have an ounce of bloat on him. Instead his dad looked like a cartoon character built to over-exaggerate the muscular patterns of the abdominal area.

But it wasn’t just Goku and Vegeta who were always training and improving their own bodies. It was also Gohan who had the same impossibly toned body. Inhumanly jacked. _ Gohan _ who hadn’t been keeping up with his training at all, which meant this was just the natural state of his body.

It occurred to Goten that this was just how their bodies worked, that yes they digested that quickly and were that well defined muscularly in a base state. And that was the moment it dawned on Goten that yes, his father was humanoid and looked normal, but he wasn’t human. And neither was Goten.

It was such a small thing but suddenly all Goten could think about was what it meant for himself. No longer an abstract observation or casual knowledge about his unique lineage, there were definite implications about what this meant for him. Even as a kid he had always had a lot of muscles but it didn’t remotely compare to how an adult Saiyan looked, would that be him one day? Would that be Trunks?

Goten had just been sitting in the pool but he still managed to suddenly find a way to fall over and faceplant into the water. Mortified, he quickly sat back up, and tried to ignore the _ looks _ that he could _ feel _ from the others, wondering if he was being a spaz or if it was another attempt at causing a commotion. He moved to a new spot against the wall and tried to not die of embarrassment as he refused to meet anyone’s eyes.

So New Report: Saiyans had muscles. What a shocking revelation. It wasn’t that Goten was adverse to the idea he’d one day look like that, but it was the thought of Trunks that was doing something to Goten’s stomach that he couldn’t quite pinpoint.

Of course nothing was ever going to be easy for Goten because Trunks had moved over to sit next to him now. “Goten, what are you doing?”

Shut up Trunks. “Nothing, I just fell.”

“Uh huh.” Trunks did not sound convinced. Goten dared to glance around the pool and saw that everyone had gone back to either joining in on the conversation or were sitting in silence. One of the latter was Piccolo and he was still _ looking _ at Goten. Oh no, he knew Piccolo had the ability to communicate telepathically, did that mean he could read minds too? Was he reading Goten’s? Was the former demon king judging what he saw in Goten’s mind? Goten didn’t want to go to hell but he was feeling incredibly guilty at the moment. That was a bad sign right?

Finally Piccolo looked away and Goten could relax again as thoughts rolled around in his head. How Goten’s very body was just going to look and behave differently than a normal Earthling human’s. He was always going to need more food, he was always going to be that much stronger, he was always just going to be apart.

  
  
  


Now years later Goten had gotten more used to the notion. He’d gotten more comfortable with his own body but it still embarrassed him when people noted it, like with their friends on the beach with their commentary.

Goten was just muscled in ways that were considered exceptional amongst humans, and yeah he liked to work out and maintain them. But he knew even if he wasn’t tapping into his considerable ki reserves when he wrapped it around his arms to make his hits stronger or legs faster under artificial gravity every training or dance session, even if he slacked off of it all together, he’d still be built a certain way.

What he found over the years was that he really liked Trunks’s muscles. He liked how they looked when he saw them flex with movement, liked how they felt beneath his hands. Liked how they felt even more when he was allowed to measure every curve and swell of Trunks’s abdomen with his own hands. Or sometimes when they were having sex, he could trace them with his tongue.

He thought about it, every time when they stripped off their shirts in the comfort of Trunks’s bedroom, assured that everyone was far enough away they wouldn’t hear or notice them.

Kissing Trunks was like a battle in and of itself, who could be more intense, who could make the other gasp for breath first. And when they got to the sex it was even better, every little moan was a victory, every uncontrolled jerk a prize won.

Goten wondered if it was always going to be this way, if sex would like sparring, something that was only fun when it was with Trunks. He couldn’t imagine wanting to be this way with anyone else. He couldn’t imagine wanting anyone else.

He liked it even when they’d only messed around with handjobs and blowjobs for the first year and a half or so. They’d gone slow on Goten’s account, Trunks would ask on occasion if he was ready to try anal but had always dropped it when Goten had demurred the question. Trunks had been a good sport about it, “Ten, I want to do everything with you, and I can wait around for when it happens.”

Granted the first time Goten had been ready it didn’t end up working out. They’d been fooling around on Trunks’s bed and Goten had been the one to bring up that he was ready now. And Trunks had blustered but had his own little freak out till he finally admitted he’d been expecting a timeline and the pure spontaneity threw him and now he wasn’t ready. That had been an awkward conversation but they both agreed that next time would be the time they tried it. That had been a few months ago and now they’d settled into a routine that was fun. Goten was happy with what he and Trunks were.

~

Goten had grown comfortable enough with the situation of his life but then he took Raditz to visit Mount Paozu. 

He figured that Raditz was probably getting tired of being cooped up at Capsule Corp, no matter how big and spacious it was, and asked if he wanted to go visit the mountains where Goten lived. Raditz agreed, possibly just to get away from Vegeta for a while. Trunks was still grounded and had complained bitterly that they were abandoning him for the day but at Goten’s unimpressed response he eventually gave up and went off to sulk.

They flew over at what Goten was pretty sure was Raditz’s top speed which still took them a while to make the trip across the Great Continent. Once they landed Goten spent a few hours showing Raditz around the various mountains, Raditz following along while seeming mildly bored the entire time. Soon it was time to gather up some food for lunch, luckily Goku was still gone so another Saiyan wouldn’t be that different from normal.

They went out to one of the rivers and Goten wadded out till he sensed a nearby school of fish, then he’d lower his ki down to nothing and stand completely still as they swam over. When they were in range he brought his hand down quickly in swift succession, hitting as many of the fish as he could, and Goten was very fast. Then when the rest of the school swam away he’d easily collect the ones that floated to the top, dead or stunned. He brought his haul back to the shore where Raditz was waiting next to the capsule cooler that Goten had brought.

After a few times doing this he felt he’d caught enough for lunch and they flew back to his house and Goten presented the catch to his mother. Then he ended up getting roped into deboning and preparing the fish while making conversation with his mother while Raditz watched his hands working with mild interest. Goten was rather practiced at deboning fish by this point having helped out in the kitchen growing up so he was fast enough to keep up with his mother’s grilling of them, having a stack ready every time she finished on the grill. 

Soon it was lunch time and Gohan came out of his study where he spent most of the days he wasn’t onsite at the university. He did a lot of video calling with the professors and others to get things ready for when he came back to campus. Videl and Pan finished her morning preschool learning and they both came out to join everyone at the big table outside where they liked to have lunch.

Videl had heard about Raditz’s resurrection so she introduced herself to Gohan’s uncle, reaching out to shake his hand. Raditz didn’t take it and instead immediately started in on helping himself to one of the serving platters that was stacked high with fish, rice, and vegetables. Thankfully Videl had heard Goten describing how brusque Raditz was before and mostly shrugged off his rudeness.

As usual the conversation that existed during lunch mostly consisted of Videl and ChiChi talking about Pan’s learning while all the Saiyans were too busy shoveling food into their mouths to contribute much. Goten had been reprimanded far too many times as a kid for talking with his mouth full and had adapted to talking after he’d eaten his fill.

“Gohan, you’re having another plate?” ChiChi asked as Gohan started up on his tenth serving. “You’ve been eating so much recently.”

“I’m still hungry,” Gohan said around a mouthful of food before swallowing. “I don’t know what it is but these past few weeks I’ve just been famished all the time and for no reason. Haven’t been training that much but I’ve also been constantly sore all over. It’s getting really old.”

“I was hoping that I made enough for everyone including our guest. But I guess I can go back to the kitchen and whip up something else if we need more food.” ChiChi stood up and took some of the empty plates back inside with her. Goten knew his mother wasn’t too bothered by having to go back to the kitchen, she enjoyed it when others ate her cooking and was used to having to make large meals.

“Did you strain yourself with your training with Piccolo?” Videl asked Gohan.

“No nothing like that, and it’s nothing specific, just my joints in general are always throbbing.”

“What’s your age?” Raditz suddenly asked suddenly, the first thing he’d said since he sat down at the table.

Gohan was startled by the question but quickly answered. “28.”

“That would put you around the age of your second growth phase, that is probably what you’re going through.” He continued to eat as if he hadn’t said anything notable. But the rest of the table sat up at his words.

“Second growth phase? I don’t know what that is.” Gohan put down his food, intrigued by Raditz’s words and wanting to hear more.

Raditz paused and realized everyone was looking at him expectantly. He thought about it for a moment as he finished his bit but then put his fork down to explain. “The second phase of growth. Saiyans don’t age continually- they do it in phases. There’s three primary ones, though more like two major ones. One when they’re in their teenage years and grow out of their adolescent phase where they show the majority of their growth. The second one is much less severe and takes place in your late 20s where your height and musculature settles into its final state. After that you won’t show any changes until your last phase at the end of your life cycle where you will rapidly begin to age and your body will wither away. Of course most try to die before they get to that point, as any good Saiyan would desire.” He finished his speech with a scowl and went back to his fish.

“Wait,” Gohan began holding up his hands and then started to gesticulate more as he continued, “You’re saying that Saiyans have a second puberty.”

Raditz made a show of finishing his mouthful before he continued “I suppose that’s an appropriate term. When I had left to come to Earth to retrieve Kakarot Vegeta still hadn’t hit his second growth phase, I see he’s gotten somewhat taller since. I don’t remember Kakarot’s build as welll but I remember him being more scrawny then he appears now. I presume they both hit theirs after my death.”

“Daddy, what’s puperty?” Pan asked and Gohan began to explain it to her.

Goten ignored Gohan’s explanation and instead fought against the temptation to pound his fists into the table, it would only lead to him getting yelled at by his mother. “I have to do that again!” Puberty had been hell and here he was being told he got to look forward to another one in 10 years!

Raditz looked at him calculatingly, “Given your reaction, I take it this is not the case with Earthlings.”

“Yeah, just the one puberty.” Gohan said, bitterly. “I can’t believe Vegeta never mentioned this.”

“I can’t explain why Vegeta acts as he does, even when I knew him he was temperamental and volatile. You’d have to ask him why he’s never discussed it with you.”

“Oh, I’m going to be talking to him about it next time we meet,” Gohan grumbled before taking another bite of food. If Goten was feeling less charitable he might even describe it as pouting.

“So Gohan’s aches are because he’s going through another growth phase?” Videl clarified and at Radtiz’s affirmation she turned back to her food. “I knew it got bigger,” she muttered. It had probably not been meant to be heard by anyone else but Goten sitting next to her heard it as did Pan who was sitting on her other side.

“What got bigger, mommy?” Pan asked innocently and loud enough the entire table heard. Videl froze as everyone turned to her.

A deep blush was rising to her cheeks as she quickly stammered out, “Your father’s feet, sweetie.” This convinced no one but Pan and Goten watched as his brother sank into his chair, his own face reddening. Oh boy, that was more information then he ever needed to know about his brother.

“Huh, that’s funny, I didn’t see Daddy get any new shoes,” Pan said, completely oblivious to the atmosphere.

“Well he did,” Videl said authoritatively, “He just got the exact same types in a bigger size.”

“Okay,” Pan accepted this statement. Then she turned to her grandmother and asked about dessert which ChiChi was all too happy to immediately stand up to retrieve.

Goten was dying at the table, torn between mortification and the increasing desire to laugh and he knew a losing battle when he felt one so he quickly shoveled the remaining food on his plate into his mouth and excused himself. He tried and failed to not glance at Gohan and Videl and their twin red faces.

He quickly ducked into the house and went up to his room and grabbed his phone to text Trunks.

[Goten] Please respond back ASAP.

He sent the text and threw himself face first on his bed. He tried to forget the last part of the meal and focus on Raditz’s words, trying to make them make sense in his brain and not just send him into a fit of despair. Thankfully moments later he heard his phone buzz and grabbed it to see Trunks’s response.

[Trunks] What’s up? Did Raditz do something or was he just being quiet and weird and sometimes just staring off at things.

[Goten] No. Well okay yes he was doing that but that’s not what this is about.

[Goten] Don’t freak out but Raditz just told Gohan that his weirdness lately was because of a Saiyan second puberty.

[Trunks] What.

[Goten] Apparently it’s a thing that happens in the 20s of a Saiyan. Gohan is in the middle of it, which may be why he’s been so grumpy lately and complaining about aches.

[Trunks] I hate everything about what you just said.

[Trunks] Gods.

[Trunks] Why do our lives have to be so fucking weird.

[Goten] I don’t want to go through all that again. It was bad enough the first time.

[Trunks] I’m going to go talk to Dad. I refuse to believe this until he tells me himself. Raditz could just be lying to fuck with us.

[Goten] Please do.

Goten put his phone down and grabbed one of his pillows to yell into a bit. It made him feel a little better. Everything about this was terrible and now he had to go back downstairs and tend to Raditz, he was his guest and no one else probably appreciated his abandoning his guest. Good hosts tended to their guests and that meant Raditz was Goten’s responsibility.

Sighing he went back downstairs, his phone in his pocket and returned to the table to see a large cake that Pan had obviously had a hand in decorating because it was encrusted with a solid layer of sprinkles. He sat down in the middle of Pan trying to negotiate herself a slice that was the size of half of the cake but kept getting talked down by Videl or ChiChi. Pan was a terrible example of a Saiyan with a sweet tooth and would gorge herself on mountains of sugary things exclusively if given half a chance.

Goten accepted his slice of what turned out to be a strawberry cake and ate it while the entire table listened to ChiChi talking with Pan about what type of cake she’d like to help make next. Videl and Gohan were dead silent and were paying rapt attention to their slices of cake. Yeah there was no way Goten was going to be able to look at them for the rest of the day, without hearing “I knew it got bigger” ringing in his head. Raditz continued to eat in silence though he didn’t seem that fond of the cake and didn’t even finish his slice.

After they cleared the table Goten asked Raditz if he wanted to start heading back to Capsule Corp, it was a long flight across the Great Continent and they could stop by some cool places on the way back instead of flying straight across like they had that morning. Raditz agreed and they took off.

They were over part of the mountainy part of the desert when Goten felt his phone buzz and the text tone go off. He’d turned the sound on because he wanted to make sure he noticed if it went off when he was flying. He quickly shouted to Raditz that this might be an interesting place to look around. Raditz obligingly landed and Goten quickly checked his phone.

[Trunks] He says he didn’t know it would affect us. Said we could have taken after our human side.

[Goten] Are you joking?

[Trunks] I know! When have we ever taken after our human sides?

[Trunks] Anyway Mom heard us talking and got all sciencey about it and started interrogating Dad so now I know more than I ever wanted to know.

[Goten] I’ll tell Gohan in case he wants to talk to her. He probably would prefer that over Raditz or Vegeta. By the way I heard something terrible at lunch and I’ll tell you about it later. My ears are still bleeding.

[Trunks] Looking forward to it.

[Trunks] By the way, spare a thought for poor future me who must have suddenly gone through this with no warning all on his own.

[Goten] Ouch.

“Are you going to be looking at that device this entire time!” Raditz demanded.

“No, I’m putting it away,” Goten responded.

[Goten] Bye, I’m flying back to Capsule Corp now but we’re taking the scenic route.

They did look around the desert and found the remains of this big old castle that was demolished. That was actually pretty cool and they spent some time shifting the rubble to see all the remains. Finally they got bored and started up their flight.

As they were flying Goten’s thoughts were buzzing. Gods what a day. He was just glad he had someone he could share all these painful discoveries with. As much as he was bemoaning knowing that he was going to have to go through puberty all over again, he was incredibly glad he had Trunks who would be suffering alongside him.

He felt so bad for that older Trunks in the future, he couldn’t imagine going through all of this all on his own. He was so lucky he had someone who understood all the weird and crazy things that made up their lives.

~

The next revelation didn’t happen till several days later when they were back at Capsule Corp. Goten hadn’t been looking for new things to top what had been previously established as the upper limit of Saiyan weirdness but Raditz kept pushing things.

They’d been talking about Saiyan stuff, Raditz recounting as much as he could remember to the boys, which was a lot more than what Vegeta told them, maybe because it had all happened more recently to Raditz or he just cared more to remember it all.

It was strange talking about Saiyan culture, everyone had strange relationships because there was this whole other layer of society involving kismesis. Someone could not only be someone’s son but the son of someone’s kismesis, which meant_ things _ in their society. Responsibilities and other expectations set on people in how they were to interact. 

Raditz was talking about people he knew and was talking about a Saiyan named Langal he used to know. What surprised Goten was hearing the way Raditz mentioned offhandedly that he had two fathers and he knew from the way Raditz phrased it that the both of them were mates. That perked up Goten’s attention, he knew Saiyans had same sex couples but he thought that it was mostly a black thing when it was two guys. So he asked to hear more about Langal’s parents and how they got him.

“What are you talking about? They got him from the same place every Saiyan gets a child. They sired him, they incubated him, and then they were raising him when he wasn’t being sent on missions.”

“Well I mean, who was Langal’s mother?” Goten asked. Was she maybe kismesis to one of Langal’s fathers?

“He didn’t have one. I just told you his parents were both male,” Raditz reiterated like Goten was being particularly dense.

“But then how was he born if he didn’t have a mom?”

“I don’t know why you assume one of his parents had to be female, two male Saiyans can have children together as easily as a heterosexual coupling.”

What. “What?” Goten asked, trying to process.

“Can you repeat it?” Trunks demanded.

Raditz groaned, “I take it this is not the case with Earthlings and this is the reason for your confusion. But once again I will reiterate even if the two species can interbreed they’ve evolved under completely different circumstances. As for Saiyans, any two mates of whatever sex or gender can have a child together.”

They ended the conversation there. As had happened several times before, Raditz would just end up getting aggravated by them, their questions, or just conversation in general and would go off to sit in the inner garden of Capsule Corp by himself.

But this time he left a very different scene in his wake as the boys quickly descended into furious whisperings once he had left.

“Did you hear what he said-” Goten began, panic already beginning to set in.

“Yes, I heard, but it doesn’t necessarily mean anything.” Trunks was quick to try to soothe him but it was too late for that, Goten was already on a roll.

“Doesn’t mean anything? He just said two guys can have kids, does that mean that guy Saiyans can get pregnant?”

“I don’t know!” Trunks threw his hands up in the air. “Maybe?”

The possibilities were suddenly expanding before Goten’s eyes and they were all terrifying. He didn’t want to imagine being pregnant, which until five minutes ago was never something he’d even considered being possible. But now the thought wouldn’t leave him, could he be pregnant now? When he and Trunks had had sex they never saw the point in using condoms, they were both each other’s first and hadn’t been concerned about STDs (that was assuming they even could get them) and he’d never thought he’d have to worry about a freaking pregnancy.

“Let’s go ask Marron,” Trunks said suddenly, “she’s been reading about all kinds of alien stuff on her Godpad, if this is a thing she would have heard about it.”

They went up to the room she was staying in and knocked on the door. Once she poked her head out Goten immediately asked, “Marron, have you seen anything on your Godpad about male Saiyans being able to get pregnant.”

She blinked at them. “Not that I recall but you can’t just ask a question like that without elaborating more, what’s up?” She opened her door and let them into the guest room where Trunks immediately flopped onto her bed. Goten opted to stand in the room and turned to face her.

“It was something Raditz said about any two mates being able to make a baby. We weren’t going to get any more information out of him and you have a Godpad which I know you’ve been reading.”

“Really?” Marron leaned against her door. “Wow, I guess I shouldn’t have skimmed the Saiyan pages. I know that culturally Saiyans were bisexual, didn’t realize it extended to having kids too. Is this the first time you guys are hearing about it?”

“Yeah, Raditz didn’t think it was that big of a deal and just mentioned it offhand. Just like he told me about having a second puberty, like it’s no big deal and nothing strange about it.” Goten said.

“I guess to him it is normal. Wow,” Marron repeated slowly, taking her time to annunciate it, “I guess I’m lucky I only have to deal with Earthling stuff, alien puberty sounds like a rough time. But why didn’t Vegeta tell you if it’s possible for either of you to get pregnant? It’s almost like he wants to have you guys have an ill-advised teenage pregnancy. Do you think he wants grandkids?”

Goten blanched at the thought. Trunks was quick to correct her, “My dad doesn’t know about us.” Then more quietly he mumbled out, “Besides I don’t think it would have occurred to him, what with me and Goten being considered brothers under Saiyan law and stuff.”

“Is it because your dads are a thing? Jeez, it just never ends with how weird your lives are. You guys should go on a reality show, you’d win every drama contest they have with just the gay alien incest line and that’s before you brought up the pregnancy scare.” Marron was smiling far too much for Goten to tolerate.

“Stop having fun with this! Our lives aren’t a source for anyone’s amusement, including yours!”

Marron shrugged, “Okay, okay, I’m trying not to, but you guys are throwing a lot at me at once. First you start talking about male pregnancy and then I find out you and Trunks are considered brothers. It’s a lot and it’s all hilarious. But I’ll try to hold my amusement in.”

Trunks put a big show into rolling his eyes.“Well first things first, who cares what the Saiyan law states about me and Goten. They’re all dead and it’s not like we’re going to break up over it or anything. It’s just a weird sidebar that doesn’t matter.”

“Fair enough,” Marron agreed. “Alright, let’s start with the other thing. So Saiyan guys can get pregnant, are you guys worried that it might be the case for you? Like right now?”

Goten blanched. He hadn’t really thought about that. Was there a chance he could already be pregnant? “You don’t think that-”

“This isn’t me asking for details about your sex life, I’m just trying to figure out if this is a concern. Establishing that should be your first priority.”

“I think we’d know if we were pregnant,” Trunks scoffed, offended at the very words he was saying.

“Really? Some girls don’t even know for months into it and you just found out today that it was possible, have you really been looking for symptoms?” Marron asked.

Goten was quickly running through every morning headache he’d had and every minor stomach cramp, trying to work out if they told him anything. But then again he was thinking of what signs he’d have if he was fully human and he wasn’t that, it could be completely different for him. What about all the alcohol he’d been drinking when he was at WaterWorld!

“We need to check,” Goten said with finality. There was no other option, he had to know so he could know how much freaking out to do.

“How? You want us to go to the store and buy pregnancy tests?” Trunks sneered. “Would they even work for considering they’re meant for Earthling girls and not Saiyan guys?”

“You’re right, there could be a large room for error there. You need something definite.” Marron thought for a moment then added, “How about Dende? He’s got healing abilities so he knows bodies as well as diving magic so he should be able to tell you for certain. And if you told him not to tell anyone I don’t think he would.”

“Right, we’ll go see Dende right now,” Goten agreed readily, happy for a solution.

“Goten, remember I’m grounded right now. I can’t leave Capsule Corp.” Oh hell no.

“Trunks, I am not being the only person who gets this done. We’ve both been on the bottom and I’m not going to be able to relax unless I know for sure you’re not pregnant either. We’ll wait till Vegeta is in the gravity chamber but then we are both going.” He leveled a glare at Trunks so he knew how serious he was, “Do you really want this hanging over our heads? Not knowing?”

Trunks groaned, “Fine, I’ll risk it. But I still think you’re being paranoid, come on what are the odds?”

“We’ve only been doing _ it,” _Goten wasn’t about to say anally in front of Marron, “for the past few months, it could have taken a while to happen. Come on, we’ll fly at top speed to try to get there and back as fast as possible.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

##  **(D****ende****)**

It was a peaceful day on the Lookout. Piccolo had stopped by yesterday and the two of them were enjoying a meditation while holding a conversation in their minds as they sat together in the sun.

_ I hadn’t known the full story of Raditz when they came to make the wish. _ Dende thought at Piccolo.

_ There never was any point to bringing it up until now. I don’t know what Trunks was thinking about bringing back Raditz of all people. _Up here in the air where everything was so still Dende was able to just sense the twitching muscles in Piccolo’s face as he grimaced.

_ Should I be more concerned about him causing problems for my planet? I don’t want a rogue Frieza warrior running around harming anyone. _Dende had seen enough of that for the rest of his lifetime. He still sometimes had nightmares about the destruction of his first planet. Only occasionally now, because being on Earth soothed them immensely. The few years he’d spent on New Namek they’d been a constant presence, surrounded by too many reminders. But Earth was so different from his home world that there wasn’t much to spark a bad remembrance.

_ I don’t think he’ll be looking to act out, he’s been scared of Vegeta’s superior strength probably before they ever came to Earth. And that was before Vegeta and Goku’s combined warning to play nice or it would end badly for him. It was strange seeing Goku like that, Vegeta less so, especially when he demanded that everyone – hold on do you sense those two immense powers incoming? _

_ Yes. They feel familiar, Goten and Trunks must be flying over as Super Saiyans. I wonder why. _

Dende sighed and relaxed his mediation as he waited for the boys to land. And sure enough two blonde boys touched down moments later.

“Dende! We need your help with something!” Trunks was out of breath, they must have been flying at great speed. What was of such great importance?

_ I suppose we should end this conversation here. _ Piccolo began to cut off the mental connection.

_ No, no stay on the line. They seem to be upset, I wouldn’t want to say anything aloud that would make the situation worse. Might be useful to have a private line to talk. _

“Well how can I be of help?” Dende asked the boys.

Goten opened his mouth but closed it, and it might have been Dende’s imagination but he seemed more flushed than he had been a moment before. Trunks looked over and scoffed loudly before turning to Dende. _ “ _Can you tell us if we can get pregnant?”

Dende blinked a few times trying to make sense of the question.

_ What? _thought Piccolo.

“What?” said Piccolo aloud.

“Trunks,” Dende began gently, “I don’t think this is something you need to be worried about, as I’m sure you’re both aware you are male.”

“There might be more cause for concern then you think, Raditz said something about how two guy Saiyans can have children, and uh-” Goten trailed off.

“Really? I thought Saiyans were like Earthlings,” Dende said confused. That was a surprise, the two species could interbred so he had assumed they followed the same sexual dimorphism of Earthlings that created primarily two different sexes and required one parent from each to create children. When he first became God of the planet he’d spent some time reading up in texts on the Lookout about the various natives to the planet.

It was very different from the two Namekian genders, those of the Warrior class and those of the Dragon class who could do magic and healing. Though unlike Earthlings a Namekian’s gender was decided when they came of age.

But now hearing this, Dende was made aware that there were gaps in his knowledge.

“If that is indeed the case, I wonder why are we only hearing about this now? Not to try to pry into your personal family lives, but considering Goku and Vegeta are the two last remaining Saiyans, wouldn’t it have been worth mentioning this before now? I heard that they were involved with each other.” Dende wasn’t that familiar with Vegeta’s personality but he knew the man carried a lot of pride of being a Saiyan, wouldn’t he want a chance at having full blooded Saiyan descendants if it was possible?

_ Don’t mention the idea, I don’t want to imagine Goku with a child that’s half Vegeta. _Dende could hear Piccolo’s displeasure through their mental connection.

Goten was certainly a darker shade of red now. “I um, don’t think that would have come up. You’re only supposed to have kids with your mate and not your kismesis, it’s not done the other way.”

“Hmm. Your species is fascinating.” This was the first time Dende was hearing about Goku and Vegeta besides what he picked up from other people. For a while it had been the favored gossip amongst the various fighters on Earth, with most everyone deciding to eventually settle on referring to it as a “Saiyan” thing and leaving it at that.

“No it’s not.” Piccolo stated flatly, “I hate this.”

“I do too.” Goten agreed vehemently.

“So I take it, you're asking because you and Trunks are mates? And thus it is a concern?” Dende asked. If only mates had children and they were worried about pregnancy wouldn’t that make them in that category?

Both of the boys' eyes widened as they looked between Dende and Piccolo. “Please don’t tell anyone! Especially not our dads!” Trunks pleaded.

“...okay.” As Dende sent a question to Piccolo telepathically, _ Are they together _ and _ trying to keep it secret? Are Goku and Vegeta not supposed to know about them? _

_ I don’t know, I suppose their concern for secrecy might be out of partial concern for Goten’s mother. _

“Are you concerned with your parent’s reaction to the two of you being together?” Piccolo asked aloud.

Goten was now refusing to meet their gaze, his eyes darting around guiltily. “It’s not that, well not just that, there’s a lot of reasons. Like we just found out from Raditz that because of Vegeta’s naming ritual Trunks and I might be considered brothers by like Saiyan stuff.”

“I see,” Dende paused scrambling to find words before finishing, “I suppose that might complicate the situation, yes.”

_ Why is Raditz continually saying things to upset the boys? I might need to have to have a word with him. _ Piccolo was most displeased.

_ Is the fact that they would be considered related a bad thing? They share no genetic connection. Our species reproduces asexually, and all living Namekians on New Namek were born from Guru or his offspring. Those that pursue romantic entanglements already know what degree of familial connection they share. _

_ I don’t know, I’ve completely lost track of what's happening anymore. _Piccolo was particularly incredulous and sounding more annoyed by the moment.

“So you came to see me to verify if either of you are currently with a child?” Dende asked the boys. If that’s what they came here for it was easy enough to check. “I can take a look with my divine ki, it should only be a moment.”

That answer satisfied them greatly. Dende reached out to touch Goten’s chest and closed his eyes as he let his ki flow out of his hand and into Goten, traveling through the body as he listened for any sign of additional life. It was a bit hard to sense easily, with Goten in his Super Saiyan state his deep well of ki was burning so brightly that it overshadowed a normal life signature. Finally Dende was satisfied he didn’t feel any abnormalities or additional signs of life**. **After he finished with Goten he did the same to Trunks.

“Well neither of you are currently pregnant.” They both sighed with heavy relief so Dende was quick to continue, “Though I think it might be best if I consult some Saiyan anatomy texts before I can speak with confidence if either of you are capable of becoming pregnant in the future. I’m only familiar with Earthling sexual reproduction and if what Raditz says is true I’m unfamiliar with how that would work, I don’t know where the organs would be.”

“You can always ask Marron, she can probably pull some up on her Godpad.” Trunks said. “We didn’t want to wait that long for an answer so we came here first.”

“Thanks for the help Dende,” Goten bowed before both of them took to the skies again, flying off back East in the direction of the West City and the rest of the Great Continent.

After they left Dende turned back to Piccolo. _ Well that was certainly something I hadn’t expected this morning. _

_ What’s a Godpad and why does Marron have one? _Piccolo asked warily. 

_ It was her wish on the Dragon Balls and I believe it’s an information device as that was her request. _

_ Hmm. I still can’t believe Goten has low enough standards to settle for being in a relationship with Trunks. _Piccolo was projecting a wave of displeasure at the news.

_ I don’t know, they’ve always worked well together. They did master the fusion technique at such a young age and that takes a lot of coordination between two people. _

_ Trunks is selfish and spoiled and both of them feed into each other. Goten could do so much better. _

_ So long as they’re happy, well as happy as they can be with all this worry of pregnancy and the like. At least they’re being responsible about it. Honestly, I’ll be content if the extent of trouble Raditz causes on Earth is upsetting the boys with information they didn’t know about. _

_ They can stand to be bothered. They’re asking for trouble if they’re attempting to keep it a secret from their parents. I doubt any of them will take well to being kept in the dark. _

##  **(****Trunks)**

Trunks landed back home a little less freaked out then he was when he left. This whole day had just spun completely off the rails, he never imagined he’d be freaking out over the possibility of him being pregnant. He was way too young to even consider being a father! Not to mention the seemingly endless depths of weirdness that he was plunging with every passing day. Why did everything about his life have to suck so much, and in such bizarre ways! Being part alien sucked.

Thankfully Dende had soothed at least some of his nerves but now Trunks knew Goten would be all jumpy the next time they had sex, probably insist on them using condoms or something, which Trunks wasn’t exactly looking forward to but was willing to start. Trunks knew he’d have to be the one to buy them, there was no way Goten would be able to do it without having a panic attack at some store clerk knowing he was having sex.

They’d split up on the way back from the Lookout, both flying home though Goten had a much longer flight than Trunks did. He tried to sneak back inside the house but Vegeta was sitting in the living room waiting for him when he opened the door. Uh oh, busted.

“Boy,” Vegeta began slowly, leveling a glare full of disapproval that could have melted steel, “as I was leaving the gravity chamber I noticed a certain absence of ki. Surely I thought my son wasn’t ignoring that he was grounded but then I couldn’t find you anywhere. Explain yourself.”

Trunks gulped, his dad _ hated _ when he was disobeying his orders and Trunks wasn’t looking forward to seeing his punishment worsened.

“I was only going to see Dende, it’s not like I was going to the mall or anything like that. It was important.” Then he decided to swing for the fences, if he was going to get in trouble he might as well get rightfully angry at his dad after the day he’d just had. “Why didn’t you tell me male Saiyans could get pregnant!”

Vegeta stared at him for a moment before asking slowly as if straining to keep his incredulity contained. “Why would you think that?”

At hearing his father’s tone Trunks was a lot less certain in his outrage then he’d been a moment ago. “Well Raditz said-”

“_ Raditz, _” Vegeta hissed, his grip on the couch intensifying. “Tell me exactly what he told you so that I can deal with him later about this misinformation that he’s been spreading.”

Misinformation? Had Raditz been lying? “He said that two male Saiyans can have kids as easy as a guy and a woman.”

Vegeta let out a long sigh and it was a moment before he continued. “I can see where the miscommunication lay. I presume that hearing this is what sent you into such distress that you felt it was necessary to break your grounding. Was Goten with you when you visited the Namekian?”

Wait, that almost sounded like he knew what had happened. But that was impossible.

“What do you mean?” Trunks asked, suddenly unsure of what answer he was going to receive.

“I take it that the two of you managed to convince yourselves that it was possible that either of you were pregnant and went to visit the Namekian to find out.”

“How did you know?” That was more than just a shot in the dark, for his father to have guessed that it must have meant he knew about-

Vegeta sighed at his dense son. “Because you and the boy are involved and it would have taken you both to get yourself worked up into such a state that you disobeyed my orders.”

“Wait, you knew?! About me and Goten!” When did this happen! His father had never said anything and Trunks had been so sure no one knew about them!

“Were you under the impression the two of you were subtle?” Vegeta scoffed. “Your scents are entwined, Boy. I’ve known for years that the two of you were together.”

What! “You knew this entire time?!”

Vegeta sighed, “And here I thought you two were just being discreet out of courtesy to everyone else in this house.” Vegeta paused and gave Trunks a long look. “Are you telling me you are honestly not aware how much you moon over the boy?” His dad didn’t sound angry anymore, instead he sounded mystified and disappointed, which was so much worse. Trunks felt himself sink into the floor at his dad’s tone before a new thought struck him.

Did this mean that his Dad was okay about him and Goten being together? Even with the whole weird thing about them maybe being brothers because of that naming ritual?

“So, are you like, okay with it?” He asked tentatively.

Trunks steeled himself as Vegeta continued, “I’ve made my peace with the fact you two are damned inseparable.” Okay, that was a good answer.

“Does Mom know?”

“We haven’t discussed it.”

Okay that was a lot to take in. His dad knew about him and Goten! And was okay with it! This was going to be running through his head tonight when he went to bed but it was mostly good. But that was for later, Trunks wanted to get back to their initial conversation.

“If guys can’t get pregnant then what did Raditz mean, he said two Saiyan guys could have a kid together?”

Vegeta sighed again and was looking up at the ceiling rather than meet Trunks’s eyes. “First of all you don’t have a womb, so you can’t carry a child so set that concern aside. Secondly what Raditz meant to explain is that in a lab setting a fetus can form from the genetic material of any two Saiyans regardless of their sex. By the time I was born it was the norm for all Saiyans to be incubated in nursing capsules until they were old enough to throw a punch. The Saiyan women had long stopped carrying their pregnancies themselves, unlike how it is with Earthlings. So when Raditz said it was just as easy as a male and a female he meant using a nursing capsule.”

Okay that made a lot more sense and was much more reassuring to Trunks. So he didn’t have any terror about teenage pregnancy. But wait a minute-

“Does that mean that Goten and I could have kids? Together?”

“Seeing as you're both Saiyan, I don’t see why not. I’m sure your mother could build an adequate nursing capsule. Gohan clearly shows it’s possible to have a child with an Earthling woman, I have no idea if the procedure would be possible for you to procreate with an Earthling male.” Vegeta answered neutrally, not betraying his thoughts on the matter.

Woah, so he and Goten could have kids together? The thought had never occurred to him, and why would it, it would have been impossible if they were normal Earthlings. But suddenly it was like a whole new world was opening up to him.“Why am I only finding out about this now? If you knew that me and Goten together for a while?”

“I hadn’t been planning to keep it from you indefinitely, it just hadn't been worth discussing until now. You’re both young, I would have brought it up later if you two seemed serious about settling down. You both should be made aware of your options. I was also concerned that Kakarot’s mate might get too stirred up by the notion if she was made aware before it was worth discussing.”

“And what’s your opinion on the whole thing? About me and Goten having kids?”

Vegeta shot him a calculating look, “I’d insist that you’d choose Saiyan names. Would like at least some of my descendants to honor their Saiyan roots.”

That was… fair, Trunks thought. Trunks had remembered how his father had been annoyed when he hadn’t been able to name Bulla, even if he’d accepted her name he might still carry some minor resentment about it. This was his opportunity to ensure that some kids had Saiyan names. And Goten would probably be willing to go along with it?

That was if Goten even wanted to have kids, they’d never talked about it, they were both too young to even think about it. Until now Trunks had been assuming they’d have to settle for adoption if they were going to go down that path. But now there was this whole new possibility just sitting in front of them. It made something inside Trunks burst with a thrum of excitement. More little Saiyan-Earthling hybrids that were just like them, kids they could introduce all the cool things on Earth too. Like martial arts and fighting.

It was all so much and he couldn’t process all of his feelings about the matter right now. This would be yet another thing he’d be obsessing over before he could fall asleep tonight. But getting back to his father.

“So am I in trouble for going to the Lookout?” Trunks finally asked after emerging from his thoughts.

“Given the circumstances I’m willing to overlook this breach of rules this once. You were trying to be responsible. You can make it up by training with me later, at _ my gravity setting.” _ Which meant Trunks was going to have to push Super Saiyan to it’s limit to keep up with his dad in base, _ great _.

But hey it had been mostly a successful conversation, he couldn’t wait to talk with Goten about it.

~

He texted Goten that night that he’d talked with his dad and how the Saiyan nursing capsules worked and that getting pregnant wasn’t a thing. But he insisted Goten had to come over tomorrow for the rest of the conversation. He wanted to tell Goten in person about the other thing because he knew he would freak out.

And sure enough.

“Your dad knows about us!” Goten hissed to Trunks, shoving him off the couch they’d been sitting on in Trunks’s workshop. Trunks grunted as he hit the floor but took it in stride and got back up.

“He claims he thought we were open about it and just being ‘discreet’.” Trunks explained to Goten who was starting up a good long fit. “Don’t worry, he says he’s okay with everything.”

“Oh man, I can’t believe _ Vegeta _ knows about us!”

“I mean it’s not that big of a deal really, so my dad knows, what’s it really changing.”

“You don’t understand, how am I supposed to face him again when he knows I’m sleeping with his son!” Goten was talking faster and louder with every word till he was practically shouting by the end. Trunks was grateful he’d thought to turn up his music all the way so no one could hear them.

“I mean, he already knew so it’s not that different then it was before.”

“But now I know! I’m not going to be able to look him in the eyes,” Goten groaned forlornly and flopped onto the couch throwing his arms over his head as he groused into the cushions.

Trunks took the seat next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t think you’re looking at it the right way. I think it’s kinda funny now, that he knew this whole time and never said anything. I kept thinking about his face when Raditz called us brothers. How he swooped in there to try to shut down that entire topic right then and there. He must have been freaking out on the inside.” Trunks began to laugh at the memory.

Goten pulled his head up from the cushion he was crushing it against. “Trunks, it’s not funny. I don’t like thinking about that. It’s totally weird.” Well at least he was more calm now and leaning into Trunks’s touch.

“Nah see it’s great. We don’t care and if it’s weird for my Dad at all, the whole technically Saiyan brothers thing, he can blame himself for never mentioning it. Serves him right.”

Besides, it didn't matter how his father thought of the two of them, Trunks wasn’t going to give Goten up for the world.

“You’re just saying that because you don’t have a brother.” Goten grumbled. “It’s weird for me to think about it, I don’t want to be kissing you and suddenly thinking of _ Gohan.” _

“So that’s a no on playing with the incest kink,” Trunks teased.

“Absolutely not.”

Trunks decided to change the subject, “Well at least now we know we never have to worry about a pregnancy scare ever again. Even if we wanted to have kids they would be in those nursing capsule things.”

Goten let out a big huff, “Yeah, that is a relief.”

“By the way my dad said if we ever have kids we have to use Saiyan names.”

Goten leveled his gaze at Trunks. “Whatever happens I’m never having a child named Vegeta.”

Trunks laughed. “Fair enough, I don’t know if that was what he was angling for exactly but I wouldn’t put it past him. He can be the last Vegeta.”

After that they spent the afternoon doing the dumb dance routines that Goten liked to do so much under the gravity chamber’s heightened gravity. Trunks liked to protest and bitch about them probably more than was necessary, it’s not like he minded that much really. It was decent exercise and Trunks’s martial arts experience had given him great control over his body so it wasn’t like it was hard exactly. Moving across the room to the music trying to hit the right marks, it was a different kind of challenge. Still made him feel a bit embarrassed every time his father made a snide comment about it.

After winding down with some time in the lab he convinced Goten to call his mom and tell her he was staying the night at Capsule Corp. They’ve done it before, Goten even had a guest room that was basically his, but Trunks knew that ChiChi was still going to be the ultimate authority on if it was to happen or not. Thankfully she agreed.

Goten spent the entire dinner refusing to meet Vegeta’s eyes or even look in his direction. Trunks didn’t think anyone picked up on it, Goten could always be a bit weird sometimes. Thankfully his father was never one to talk over food and didn’t try talking to Goten at all, that would have gone over _ great. _ Instead it was Bulla who spent the entire time interrogating Trunks and Goten over every aspect of the mermaids they had met on their trip. Trunks hadn’t yet mentioned that the mermaids had asked to meet her, that would only result in demands to go and see them immediately. Maybe he’d talk with his mom about planning a family vacation to the area and having Bulla meet them then. It’d be fun if his mom could arrange for Gohan and Videl to come too so they could bring Pan. And Goten of course.

After dinner they watched some cartoons on Trunks’s television he had in his bedroom, the both of them lying on his bed and providing commentary on the show. Goten’s observations were more geared toward the animation and style of the show while Trunks had fun picking apart the plot and how dumb some of the characters were.

After they finished it didn’t take long before they were both taking off their clothes and kissing. This was the best part of Goten spending the night, they could do this without worrying about someone knocking at the door, which Trunks always locked when Goten was over.

Trunks was lying on his back, his hands behind his head gripping the pillow while Goten was lying between his legs, mouth wrapped around Trunks’s dick. Trunks was watching with rapt attention while Goten was working his shaft.

And then Trunks made a bad decision. Maybe it was because Trunks liked to push things more than he should and in his current state it seemed like a good idea, or at least a funny one. And maybe it was that he liked to tease Goten about all his weird hangups and he was still amused about the whole situation. Maybe there were a whole list of reasons why Trunks decided to groan out “Nii-san” as Goten was doing something particularly nice with his tongue.

Regardless of the reasons, the results were instantaneous. Goten gagged and immediately pulled off of him, coughing and having to catch his breath before looking up at Trunks with a furious expression.

“What the fuck was that!” Goten seethed and oh he was angry, Goten never cursed.

“I was just testing it out. Come on, it’s not like a real incest thing. It was just for fun.”

“It’s not fun for me and now I’m definitely not finishing.”

Trunks didn’t like the sound of that at all, he was still hard and very much wanted Goten to continue. “Oh wait come on, I’ll stop. I was going to let you top.”

“No you already killed the mood. You murdered it Trunks and now it’s just going to have to stay dead. I’m not doing anything else tonight no matter how much you beg.”

“Okay, okay hard limit. I’ll lay off the whole thing.” Great now Trunks was going to have to finish himself off. He believed it when Goten said he was done.

“Alright, give me a minute,” Trunks wrapped a hand around his dick and began to masturbate.

“I should go back to my room.” Goten got up off the bed and was going towards his clothes.

“No, you should stay here with me,” Trunks protested as he continued to jerk off, trying to finish as quickly as possible. Which was a bit hard given the conversation.

“I just said-”

“No, no, I’m not pushing that. I promise I’ll keep my hands above the belt and all that. I want to sleep, and that’s _ only _ sleep, with you.”

“Trunks-”

“Come on. I liked sharing a bed with you, and besides if my Dad already knows he’s not going to say anything if he finds out we shared a room.” It had been nice this summer to wake up next to Goten, sue him, he wanted to do it again.

Goten finally relented and agreed after stopping by his room to grab the sweatpants he left in one of the drawers. Trunks quickly finished while he was gone and grabbed his own sleep pants that he left on the floor. He refused the temptation to fist pump at his success in convincing Goten, it had been easier than he expected after being cut off so dramatically. Maybe Goten had missed the closeness of the trip too.

When Goten got back they settled in together on the bed, Goten on his back and Trunks curled into Goten’s side and laid his arm across Goten’s stomach. It was nice, but something was bothering Trunks and was going to keep him from sleeping.

“I’m sorry for the Nii-san thing earlier, didn’t think it would make you that mad.”

“But you knew it would make me at least somewhat mad and you did it anyway.” Goten had turned his head so Trunks was looking into his eyes, his tone cold even as they cuddled together.

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry.” Trunks didn’t know why he did some of the things he did, he was always the headstrong reckless one of the two and that meant he spent a lot of time trying to talk himself out of trouble.

“Gods, sometimes I just hate you so much.”

“Yeah, but you also love me.” Trunks pointed out, they’d said it before. Often saved for whispered conversations when they were having sex or in the afterglow.

Goten sighed and looked back at the ceiling, “I hate you and I love you, and I hate that I love you so much. And I hate that I’m stuck with you except for all the times I love it.” Trunks tightened his grip on Goten.

Goten sighed again. “I guess that’s why we make such good kismesis.”

Wait. Record Scratch.

It was like the world suddenly screeched to a halt and Trunks was left flying off the face in the crash. What was Goten talking about?

“Ten?” He asked tentatively, and Trunks tried to not be amazed at how even his voice sounded when he was pretty sure he wasn’t breathing.

“Yeah?”

“What do you mean by that, calling us kismesis?”

“That’s what we are, Dummy.” Goten responded sleepily. Like it was old news, something already long ago decided and accepted as fact by everyone.

“Oh.”

Trunks didn’t say anything else as he felt Goten drift off to sleep besides him, but sleep was not anything Trunks was going to be experiencing. His mind was racing suddenly at Goten’s words. How had Goten come to this conclusion that they were kismesis? It was certainly news to Trunks, he had thought they were red for each other. How had he missed something like this?

It was quite a while before Trunks was able to finally fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took a while, just been a lot going on and hard to find the time and concentration to write. Anyways onto the notes for this chapter. 
> 
> Okay, okay the second puberty is kinda canon, and I’m going to defend this!
> 
> Looking at the manga after his first appearance Vegeta definitely grows several inches and maybe Toriyama was just being inconsistent or drawing by the seat of his pants once Vegeta became a major character, but I’m running with this. Also you can compare Goku’s scrawny build when he first fought Raditz compared to how built he got in the time he spent dead and on Namek. Does it make sense for him to grow while being dead? Probably not but this is Dragon Ball. 
> 
> Listen, I just really wanted to torment poor Goten, Trunks, and Gohan and creating a second puberty is a great way to do that. This is a fic about the pains of being half Saiyan and all that entails, what am I going to ignore this great way to make their lives harder? I mean the subtitle of this fic is “Alien Puberty Fucking Sucks” after all.
> 
> That old castle Raditz and Goten found was the remains of Pilaf castle that Goku destroyed in Dragon Ball.
> 
> As for the pregnancy scare stuff, sorry fans of mpreg but it’s not going to be in this fic. On the other hand having the boys freaking out about it was far to much fun to resist. But if Saiyans are already canonically using incubation pods for their babies, why not have a fetus being able to be created by two male or two female Saiyans? I don’t know if I’m ever going to get around to writing it, but yeah in this series Trunks and Goten will eventually have kids together. None of them will be named Vegeta.
> 
> For the Dende pov section, I wanted to keep this fic from Trunks, Goten, and Marron’s pov but I also wanted a small section with Dende too. This is a fic about alien biology and sexuality so of course I needed to have some small section dedicated to our favorite Green Slugmen. Most of what Dende says is straight canon, there are no female Namekians and he and Piccolo are of the different types of class. Also I headcanon Piccolo as ace, he’ll leave stuff like sex and romance to the mammalians, so long as they keep giving him tiny Saiyan children he can adopt and co-parent.
> 
> I’m thinking of combining my outlines for Chapters 10 and 11 into one *long* chapter, which if I do end up doing this will mean it will probably take me a while to get it done. We’ll see what happens. Lots of stuff happening with the boys and figuring out their relationship. I promise angst and lots and lots of talking about those awful little things called feelings.
> 
> I love nothing more than comments hearing what you guys thought of the chapter.


	10. No One Else Can Break My Heart Like You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from “True Love” by Pink, betaed by Zesparia who really helped me out with the fight scene.

#  **(M****arron)**

Marron’s parents finally returned from their cruise on a Wednesday and after picking her up that evening they were back in their home in Satan City. That night they spent all of dinner talking about the things they did and the sights they saw on their trips. Marron hadn’t focused too much on what the boys had wished for from Shenron, instead focusing on explaining in great detail just how cool her new Godpad was and all the neat things she’d been finding on it.

The next day Yamcha and Puar dropped in to visit while they were having lunch and stayed for a few hours to catch up. All the stories from the trips were once again recounted, and a certain fish that Krillin caught in the tropics increased in size by several inches which made Marron wonder how big it had been when it was first caught. But it was Marron’s talking about her summer that got everyone’s attention when she was asked for the first time what Trunks had wished for.

“Wait, so Raditz is alive again?” Yamcha had been leaning back in his chair and it suddenly clattered as all four legs were back on the floor, “What was Trunks thinking?”

“Yeah, he wasn’t exactly friendly the one and only time I’ve met him,” Krillin added before finishing the rest of his drink. 

Marron shrugged. “Trunks wished him back because he knew there was a lot of Saiyan history that he’d never been told about and he was curious.”

“Right, because Saiyan history is so important to keep alive,” Yamcha grumbled, “wasn’t it all about conquering other planets and massacring people?

“Parts of it, but there was other stuff about the culture and his heritage that Trunks wanted to learn about. I mean, where else was he ever going to learn about it? Vegeta? I don’t think he’s very big on talking about things.”

“I don’t know, from what I remember Vegeta sure liked to brag a lot about Saiyans. Certainly wouldn’t shut up about them.” Krillin waved to catch Android 18’s attention so she would refill his cup with more sangria with the pitcher that was in her hands.

“Well now there is a new Saiyan running around, just what we needed,” Puar sighed into his own cup.

“I mean don’t get me wrong,” Yamcha hastened to add, “I love Goku and Vegeta is... decent enough by this point, I guess, Bulma keeps him mostly in line. But I’m not eager to befriend every Saiyan that comes to Earth.”

“Tell me about it, at least Raditz didn’t send you crashing into Kame House,” Krillin massaged his forehead at the memory.

Marron sat up dramatically. “I don’t know what you’re all talking about, Raditz is great!”

Krillin, Puar, and Yamcha looked at her skeptically. No. 18 looked mostly like she was mildly bored, as she often did.

“Honey,” Krillin said slowly, “I know you have sort of a biased view on what’s acceptable behavior but trust me that Raditz is certainly not great.”

“Well in one of the first conversations he had when he was wished back he took the time to call Vegeta a prudish virgin and Goku as ‘my weakling brother.’ Which was freaking amazing.”

Krillin and Yamcha tried to not laugh into their drinks at that. Puar did not succeed and ended up drenching his face with sangria. “Okay, that is a single point in his favor,” the cat gasped and then took a wet washcloth that No. 18 offered him.

Marron continued, “Part of Trunks talking to him was trying to extract every embarrassing story from Vegeta’s teenage years he could get out of Raditz, out of Vegeta’s earshot of course. But there were a bunch of fun stories that didn’t involve killing people that were fun to hear, and those were just the ones that I was there for. Dad have you ever heard of anyone called the Ginyu Squad?”

Krillin let out a long sigh, “Yeah, that name does ring a bell. Not exactly some of my fond memories from Namek but I remember them being there.” No. 18 patted her husband’s arm as if he were a small creature that needed consoling. Even if it was out of pity, Krillin preened at the attention.

“Well, okay they really had it in for Vegeta and Raditz and the other guy they were with. Lots of stories of bullying. And some other guy named Zarbon, who Raditz was fucking, liked to give them grunt work so most of the stories focused on that.”

Puar had just finished cleaning his fur but used the towel to hide his strangled laugh.

Krillin looked slightly thoughtful, “Zarbon huh? I think I have some memories of him, he had long hair and was one of those vain fighters. Didn’t realize he and Raditz were a thing.”

“How did you know Raditz and this Zarbon guy were involved?” Yamcha asked.

“Cause Vegeta threw it back in his face when he talked about killing him. I think Vegeta was getting a kick listing off everyone who worked for Frieza that are now dead. Made him feel all powerful and successful about how his life turned out when Raditz was dismissing him for settling down on a peaceful planet. That and the bragging about how he could become a Super Saiyan.”

“As Vegeta is wont to do,” Yamcha muttered under his breath but maybe it was the drink in him because he wasn’t really that quiet about it.

“Well anyway, enough about Raditz, I got the best wish out of the three of us, I got a Godpad! It lets me watch Godtube and access the divine web and read about all kinds of weird alien stuff!”

No. 18 looked at Marron sternly, “Marron, I hope you’re being responsible with this. I don’t want to have to figure out how to install child locks on it.”

“It’s fine mom, I’m not getting into any bad stuff. I’m just learning about how our universe fits into the multiverse. You won’t believe how many different species of aliens there are out there! I’m being an anthropologist! Besides, I’ve already been more helpful for Trunks and Goten to learn about Saiyan puberty because back to my earlier point Vegeta is allergic to talking about stuff he probably should have mentioned to his son.”

“Wait, how weird can Saiyan puberty be?” Asked Krillin, “I remember Goku going through it fine. I mean he did kind of just shoot up at a certain point but besides that.”

“I don’t know, there was so much strangeness about Goku it’s hard to remember what was his Saiyan side and what was just Goku being Goku.” Yamcha thought for a moment before adding at the end, “He was such a strange little monkey boy.”

Marron was ready to go into lecture mode, “Well for one, they have two puberties! One in their teens and one in their mid to late 20s. Raditz says when he died neither Goku or Vegeta had hit theirs yet.”

“I knew Vegeta was shorter before Namek!” Krillin said loudly, slapping the table hard enough that all the glasses shook and a faint sound of wood cracking followed. He looked mildly abashed when everyone looked at him, “Sorry, just thought I was imagining things over the years. But I knew I was right!”

“Nah, it’s a real thing,” Marron continued. “Course Goten _ was not _happy, really cursing the whole thing when he told me. Reason that was brought up was because Gohan might be going through it right now.”

Puar tried to stifle his laugh, “I shouldn’t find this as funny as I do, but that’s incredible.”

Marron leaned forward over the table, eager to have someone to share the mirth with. “I mean I find it hilarious and I’m not even telling you half the weirdness that Trunks and Goten have had to put up with. They’ve been having meltdowns over Saiyan puberty stuff all week.” Unfortunately she couldn’t share the conversation they’d had with her when they were freaking out about pregnancy scares, as absolutely incredible and hilarious as it had been.

“Anyways, I don’t care what any of you guys think, I think Raditz is amazing!” Marron declared.

Krillin sighed, “Well it’s not like he’s that much of a threat to us now, if he’s still as strong as he was when he died then Yamcha even you could handle him right now.”

“Yeah but what about normal people?” Asked Puar, “There’s a lot of people on this planet who aren’t just in our little group of fighters that wouldn’t fare well in a fight against him.”

No. 18 looked at her daughter, “Marron, do I need to come have a word with Raditz about behaving around you? I don’t care how amusing you find him, if he’s a threat then he will be dealt with.”

“Nah Mom, it’s okay,” Marron said. “Goku did a pretty good job of telling Raditz he needs to behave on Earth. Trunks and Goten were all impressed, said he got all stern and threatening-y.”

Yamcha scoffed, “Goku? I find that hard to believe, he’s a giant kid. He only gets serious when the fate of the world is on the line, I can’t imagine him taking Raditz seriously.”

Marron shrugged, “I don’t know, Goten and Trunks said he was pretty angry about what happened when he first came to Earth. Something about taking Gohan?”

“Huh. Well, maybe even Goku is capable of holding grudges,” Puar said thoughtfully.

Marron continued, “Besides, Vegeta volunteered to keep an eye on him at Capsule Corp.”

“Can’t imagine a lot of love lost between them,” muttered Krillin before he explained to a curious No. 18, “When Raditz died he was convinced Vegeta would resurrect him, but when Vegeta first showed up he laughed at him dying to a bunch of weak Earthlings.”

“See, knowing Vegeta, that sounds about par for the course in his level of socialization,” said No. 18.

“Oh, he’s gotten better,” Krillin defended. “Sure, he’s not exactly a friendly guy but I think he likes the gang. I mean as much as he likes anything.”

“I think part of it was him spending two decades being upset with himself for being into _ the buffoon _,” Yamcha intoned in a voice that sounded more than a little bit like Vegeta and then smirked into his drink. Had he been practicing the impersonation?

“Explains why he was always so short tempered,” Puar added with a snerk.

“You guys sure like to snark about Vegeta and Goku’s sex lives,” Marron said. Friendly ribbing was one thing but whenever Yamcha came over there was always at least some joke about it.

“Oh, I’m just having fun,” Yamcha protested. “All these years of tiptoeing around Vegeta’s Goku button and it turns out the reason is this whole Saiyan hatemance nonsense. It’s funny and I’m allowed to get my kicks where I can.”

“Just as long as it’s not where Vegeta can hear you.” No. 18 added with a small smirk of her own.

“Well yeah, I’m not _ stupid.” _

As the adults began to banter some more Marron wondered how Trunks and Goten were doing and that they better appreciate her not bringing up the pregnancy scare incident.

  
  


#  **(Trunks)**

Trunks spent the night with sleep eluding him from the speed of his racing mind.

Goten thought they were kismesis? What the fuck. When did this happen? Why did this happen? What would make Goten think that what they had was something like that? Sure they sparred a lot but that was just for fun it wasn’t anything serious. It wasn’t anything like what _ he _thought being black meant.

Everything his father and Raditz had said about kismesis paraded through his mind. It was about a mutual hatred and drive to beat the other person. Was that what Goten thought they were?

Wait, did that mean Goten hated him? When did it start? They’d always been best friends, when had that changed into something else? Where hadn’t Trunks gotten the memo?

It was the casual way Goten said it that fucked with him the most. Like it was obvious and established. Had it been this way for a while? Had nothing changed and this was the way it had always been for Goten?

Apparently Trunks was enough of a fuck up he hadn’t realized that his best friend and soulmate had hated him. Had he really been so blind? Yeah, Goten had protested and went along with his ideas but Trunks had thought that Goten was okay with it all. That he enjoyed the time he spent with Trunks.

But, if Goten hated Trunks that meant-

Oh gods.

Wow.

Every single second of every single time he’d ever pressured Goten after he said no the first time and turned it into a yes. Did that mean Goten had felt coerced every single time? No, it couldn’t be that. He’d always thought that Goten had never done anything he really didn’t want to do. Sure Goten sometimes told him no and it turned into a yes but if he really stuck to his guns and insisted Trunks relented. So if Goten was serious about this-

“_ I don’t want to tell everyone we’re together yet.” _

_ “I don’t want to be boyfriends.” _

Oh.

Fuck. Had Goten been telling him the truth the entire time? Why shouldn't they tell people they were boyfriends or dating, because they weren’t and never were going to be?

And Trunks had just? Not been listening? Was he so fucking self-centered he blinded himself to literally never see what was right in front of him- _ what Goten had been been saying this whole time _. Goten literally couldn’t have gotten clearer.

No, he was being ridiculous. Calm down Trunks, he told himself. Clearly he needed to figure out what was going on but that couldn’t be done freaking out in the middle of the night. Tomorrow he would figure out what was going on.

He finally managed to get to sleep and woke up the next morning with Goten stirring next to him. It was a new occurrence, during the summer Goten had been easily able to get up without waking Trunks at all but for some reason today Trunks was sensitive enough that Goten woke him up at an ungodly hour. The time difference between West City and Mount Paozu meant even sleeping in for Goten was early for Trunks. But even waking up with Goten in his arms wasn’t enough to soothe the ache of dread that was hovering over him. He needed to figure out what had made Goten decide they were kismesis. And he needed to figure it out fast.

After breakfast he waved goodbye to Goten, trying to not reveal the tumult of thoughts. When he got back to his room the first thing he did was contact Marron.

[Trunks] Marron, you have the Godpad. Send me any and all writings you can find about Saiyans and kismesis stuff.

[Marron] Kay.

[Marron] What brought this on?

[Trunks] I want to read it for myself. Come on.

[Marron] Okay, okay. Give me a bit, I need to send stuff to an email account I can access from my regular laptop. Give me a few hours and I’ll send you what I can find.

[Trunks] Thank you.

Okay this was a good starting point. He’d read up on kismesis and try to work out from there what to do next. Feeling restless, and noting his father had already headed to the gravity chamber, he changed into workout clothes to join him. Vegeta didn’t say anything as he entered the room, just grunted in acknowledgement as Trunks powered up to Super Saiyan in order to keep up with the 500g setting. They both warmed up and did some exercises on their own but before too long Vegeta was barking at Trunks to meet him in a spar. Trunks obeyed and soon they were zipping around the room, moving at supersonic speeds until a hit or kick landed and locking them into an exchange of blows.

After all was said and done, Trunks knew he would be walking out with a number of bruises and aching muscles. But it had been enough to get his mind off of his current situation. When he finally emerged and showered off the layer of sweat he’d built up he saw that Marron had responded with some files in an email attachment.

Okay, he could work with this. He threw himself on his bed as he toweled his hair and began to read through the files she sent. There were documents that look like they’d been copied from an encyclopedia, describing the phenomenon of kismesis amongst various species in dry scientific terms. There were some diatribes that some dude with a big chip on his shoulder wrote about how having kismesis showed Saiyans were nothing but savage creatures at heart and should be treated with disdain. 

There were a few columns that Trunks didn’t know where they originated as they used lots of flowery words to describe the passion that kismesis had, it was all very fanciful and written in a language that made Trunks think of tawdry magazines he caught his mother with a few times. 

There were even what Trunks could only describe as black romance stories, and surprisingly as he settled down to read those were actually the most helpful. They laid out actual relationships that Trunks could observe. Even if they were only fiction they at least gave him an idea of what a kismesis relationship looked like from the ground level.

Most of them started out with two Saiyans who met on bad terms and kept clashing but both eventually developing a mutual obsession with the other and their individual desires to become stronger would meet into both of them being pushed higher. There were some where both of the Saiyans didn’t even seem to like each other all that much, their attraction consisting entirely of a drive to surpass.

There were several where they were consumed with an almost bloodlust to try and defeat the other, not being able to hold back from using every ounce of strength. Those stories often ended with the two dying far before the end of their lives, unable to wait for their fatal duel.

There were a few where the kismesis were on better terms, where they would function as a pair of tag team fighters on a squad and be the dual might of a team, two were better than one, especially when they could work so well in unison. Or one where both partners were trying to purposefully push the other to their full potential, and using their own might as a means to achieving that end. That one struck Trunks as being almost sappy.

He took more notes then he ever did studying for any classes, but after several hours he was no closer to any answers. Because it just didn’t make sense.

There was stuff here that clearly didn’t apply to them in any way. He knew Goten didn’t see him like an enemy of any sort. Even a rival seemed to be a strange thought. They were both competitive but they had always seemed to take it as a game, nothing serious.

And the stuff that did ring slightly truer, about finding a partner in arms, one that you always went into battles alongside confused Trunks some more. Because he could see the appeal of that but didn’t see why it had to be tied strictly to black emotions? Couldn’t they just be like that and be red like how they’d always been? Or that had been how Trunks had interpreted it.

Reading all the stories had been like trying to look through a dark mirror to decode where Goten was coming from by calling them kismesis. It put a weird spin on everything and Trunks didn’t know what was what anymore.

What he needed was to talk with Goten, surely there must have been some big miscommunication happening that they could sort out.

  
  


#  **(Goten)**

Goten was 12 when Goku and Vegeta got together. He remembered this because it hadn’t been that long after his birthday that he and Trunks were sat down by Vegeta and had the situation explained. (Thinking about it in retrospect Goten suspected that Bulma had been the one to make Vegeta explain their arrangement, because he couldn’t think of another reason as to why Vegeta was willing to talk about something like _ relationships _.)

They were sitting on a couch in the living room of Capsule Corp as Vegeta faced them, sitting in a chair with his arms crossed and fists clenched. “I’m only going to be explaining this situation this one time so pay attention,” he began. “Kakarot and I are involved in a relationship.”

“Well yeah, you guys are always fighting each other,” Trunks said.

“No, I don’t mean our sparring I mean that we are involved in a sexual relationship.”

Oh. OH.

“What?” Goten squeaked. Surprise and mortification filling him as he tried to comprehend this new information. His dad and Vegeta?!

“Wait does that mean you and mom are getting a divorce?” Trunks asked, a note of rising panic in his voice.

“No. Don’t let that idea enter your head,” Vegeta’s scorned. “My relationship with your mother has nothing to do with my relationship with Kakarot, they are completely separate things.”

Goten wasn’t sure how any of that made sense and Trunks must have shown similar confusion as Vegeta continued.

“Not every species shows their affections or romances in the same ways. And this is one of the areas where Saiyans and Earthlings differ. The Saiyans had two primary partners, those that you would raise a family with and those that you fought with. Your mother is my mate while Kakarot is what is called my kismesis.”

“But you used to always fight with Goku,” Trunks pointed out, “does this mean you guys have been kismesis this whole time?”

“No,” Vegeta ground out and oh Goten could see he was not enjoying this conversation. “It’s been a more recent development.”

“Okay, then what changed all of a sudden?” Trunks demanded. And oh Goten was grateful Trunks was here because he could not imagine asking Vegeta any questions when he was glowering like that.

“There is nothing sudden about it, it’s been a long time coming. Kakarot and I have just finally reached an agreement. As we have with both of your mothers, they have agreed to tolerate this arrangement. And that is all either of you need to concern yourselves with.”

Goten remembered this conversation not just because of how clearly unhappy Vegeta was to be having it but also it was the first time he had heard about kismesis.

And it was this conversation he came back to when he and Trunks started making a habit of finishing off spars with an exchange of handjobs. Because if there were two types of relationships that Saiyans could have, that meant he and Trunks had to be one of them.

And he considered.

He thought about how sometimes Goten just wanted to tear out his hair in frustration with how stubborn and impossible Trunks was about picking what they were to do, because of course it was always Trunks who made the decisions and Goten who went along with them. That’s how it had been since they were kids. And when he would eventually put his foot down how Trunks would make a fuss before he eventually relented into letting Goten make a decision. Goten thought about how frustrated that would sometimes make him feel and he wondered.

He thought about how Trunks would tease him and say stuff just to antagonize Goten until he finally got a reaction out of him. How often they sparred and how so many of their conversations devolved into bickering.

That’s what this rush in his blood was every time they faced off for a spar. This was what the feeling was every time Trunks thought he was being funny and Goten kinda wanted to strangle him. (Even if it was only a little bit.)

Mates where who you fought to protect, kismesis where who you fought with, both alongside and against and both of those things were true of Trunks and Goten.

Kismesis. It was good to have a name to it. Especially because he didn’t think he’d ever be able to find a mate.

His mom would sometimes talk about the types of girls he would settle down with in the future, always pushing to try and play matchmaker to some girl who was good enough (i.e. rich) to be worthy of Goten. He always tried to demure her questions. He didn’t have it in him to explain to his mom that he was pretty sure he was gay and wasn’t going to be looking for any type of girl to settle down with.

When he started doing drawing streams with Inka he called them dates to finally get her off his back about seeing a girl even if it meant he had to endure a litany of questions about who she was. At least it meant he was given privacy for hours without her barging in asking for help with this or yelling at him to do chores he was going to get to later. Inka was at least cool with acting as his fake girlfriend for his mom, she always laughed about it.

Even without the glaring problem of Goten being gay he was pretty sure his attempts to find a girlfriend would be somewhat hampered by all the insanity that made up his life. Not everyone adapted to all the alien-gods-magic-fighting stuff that made up his life like Videl had come to terms with for Gohan.

Much less someone who would be able to handle his relationship with Trunks. Polyamory wasn’t exactly a common thing and it would be a pretty big ask to find someone who was accepting of that along with everything else. But more than that, he wasn’t sure how much room he had in his life for someone else to fall in love with when it felt like all he could see was Trunks.

But that’s okay. Goten didn’t need a mate if he could have Trunks.

~

The next time Goten came over he immediately knew something was up with how Trunks was behaving. He kept _ looking _ at Goten, and not a normal amount but just constantly turning his attention back to Goten. And he kept asking what Goten wanted to do, like it was some big mystery what they were going to end up doing. Trunks’s current game console had been taken away but he’d been able to unearth a much older one from the back of his closet with games so old they were practically new again.

“What is with you, you’re never like this,” Goten finally broke down after the fifth time he beat Trunks in their video game because Trunks wasn’t even paying attention to the screen. “You’re better at this game then me and you’ve just lost again.”

Trunks looked abashed at being called out on his poor performance, “Well we don’t have to play this game if you don’t want to, we can do something else instead, what do you want?”

“Why are you asking me? You’ve been weird all morning, Trunks.”

“I just want to make sure you’re happy, not just doing what I want.”

“But we always do what you want.” Like it wasn’t an immutable fact in how they operated.

“Exactly!” Trunks sat up and was looking at Goten all the more intently now, “And I realized that’s not fair, we should each get to pick the things that we want to do.”

Goten sighed, “Trunks, we like the same things. You’re just bossier about it.” Sure it would be nice to be asked for input more but it wasn’t like he was opposed to whatever Trunks wanted to do most of the time.

“Ten, look, I’m trying to be a better boyfriend here,” Trunks said.

Goten made a face. He didn’t like that word when applied to them. It was too soft and too close to being like they were some mushy couple that spent the whole time staring into each other’s eyes, and that wasn’t them at all.

“I thought we agreed to not use that word for us.”

“Yeah, I know we said that, but lately I’ve been thinking about it more and I want to know why we agreed to that again? I think it’s the best word for what we are. You know, us being together and all that.”

“Yeah, but-” Goten trailed off trying, his thoughts too nebulous to be easily put into words.

Boyfriends were people you took out on dates with to a fancy restaurant and did all that boring romantic stuff with, but that wasn’t Trunks and Goten. For one they couldn’t comfortably go to any restaurants without ordering 10 courses of food but for another that just wasn’t their scene.

They never went on dates, they just hung out and enjoyed each other’s company. Sure sometimes they would go out to see movies or go to an amusement park or other stuff that couples did, but those were also things best friends did.

Being boyfriends meant Goten would have to tell his parents about them being together, it meant that everyone would know about them. It was all just too real for Goten.

“Why can’t we just keep being best friends?” Goten asked. They’d been best friends their whole lives, why change it now?

Trunks let out a huff and ran a hand through his hair, “We can still be best friends, Ten. I just would like to make it official that we’re more than that. We’ve been doing it long enough.”

“Official to who?” Now that Vegeta knew was Trunks going to try to push to tell his mother? But if Bulma found out then she’d for sure tell ChiChi and then Goten was going to have to deal with all that.

“Everyone? I mean, I know I want to spend the rest of my life with you, maybe I’d like other people to get that as well.” Trunks was trying to bribe him with sweet words but Goten was still not buying it.

“Trunks, what brought this on? Really?”

Trunks didn’t say anything and kept looking around his bedroom like he was looking for what to say before he finally clenched his fists and blurted out, “Okay, I’ve been thinking. About how you called us kismesis the other day.”

Oh, that?

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Is that what you think of us?” And he sounded so unsure that Goten was momentarily flummoxed? Why was Trunks making a big deal about this? Didn’t he feel the connection between them? They had always been on such a similar wavelength that Goten had never questioned that Trunks had felt the same way he did. They were both Saiyans, it was only natural to feel this pull in their blood.

“Yeah? I mean it pretty much describes us doesn’t it? How we’re always bickering or pushing each other into doing things.” Well more like Trunks pushing Goten into doing things but Goten didn’t like to back down. “Sure we’re not like our dads but they’re their own weird thing.”

“I guess I just never thought of it that way.” Trunks said softly. “I never thought that I, I mean we’d be strong enough to be kismesis.”

What did that mean? Not strong enough, did Trunks think Goten was too weak for him? Sure Goten had always been a bit behind but he won at least some of their fights even if it wasn’t an even split. And if that was the problem

“Well we can always train more if you want to get stronger,” Goten offered but Trunks didn’t look satisfied with his words.

“Not what I meant,” Trunks groused and he moved to run a hand through his hair but caught himself and angrily brought it down in a fist. “But what about all that stuff about the suicide pact fight? You know where kismesis are supposed to kill each other?”

Oh so that’s what was bugging Trunks. Goten could understand that, it was kind of a strange thought, that one day their final deaths would come to a mutual combat. But that would only happen at the end of their lives and while Goten wasn’t scared of death he wasn’t planning on meeting it anytime soon.

“That’s a long way off isn’t it? I mean we could always die before then trying to save the Earth or the Universe from some bad guy. Not like we haven’t already done that before. Besides isn’t it kind of neat, returning our ki to the universe and all that.”

“I guess,” Trunks said. He didn’t say anything else, just had his hand clenched into fists. Reaching over Goten laid one of his hands on top of Trunks’s.

“You don’t have to think about it if you don’t want to, like I said it’s a long way off and who knows what will happen before then. But you get it now, right? You see how we’d never work as mates.”

Goten tried to imagine them in the place of Gohan and Videl or his parents and couldn’t see him and Trunks ever being like that. Even Bulma and Vegeta who liked to bicker more than most couples he knew were far too soft with their affections. He’d seen Vegeta fight Beerus because he’d slapped Bulma and that wasn’t something he could ever see happening with him and Trunks. They didn’t need the other to defend them, they were partners, equals, and they always fought their fights together, either tag-teaming or as Gotenks.

“I guess,” Trunks repeated. He didn’t say anything more for a moment before suddenly grabbing the controller and starting up another round of the video game. Goten scrambled to grab for his and turn his attention back to the game.

  
  


#  **(Trunks)**

_ You see how we’d never work as mates. _

The words kept repeating themselves in Trunks’s head and he tried to drown them out by focusing on the game, quickly pressing the buttons with a relentless aggression, and he even managed to win the next round. But the victory didn’t sit well with him. He was restless and needed a different outlet for the conflict he was feeling.

“Let’s go have a spar,” he said and tossed his controller to the floor.

“Oh, already? Alright, let me change and I’ll meet you in the gravity room. Hopefully your dad won’t be too upset about us kicking him out early.”

Trunks thought for a moment about the actual process of going up to the gravity room and telling his father he needed to leave a couple hours before his and Goten’s regular time before quickly dismissing it.

“No, let’s not go there. Let’s go fly off someplace else.”

“But Trunks aren’t you currently grounded right now?” Goten asked, apprehensive. Trunks would normally get Goten’s worry, no one liked to be the one on the bad side of his dad,_ especially_ Trunks, who would go out of his way to avoid being punished. But Trunks just didn’t care right now. Not with _“never work as mates”_ rattling around in his head.

“So? I’ll deal with my dad later, right now let’s go somewhere where no one else is around. Come on.”

“If you really want to, okay,” Goten acquiesced and left to go change into his workout gi. Trunks similarly ditched his tshirt and jeans for stuff he could actually spar in and soon they were off flying east into the deserted lands that were at the heart of the Great Continent.

They were flying for over thirty minutes before they stopped off in a large flat topped mesa that jutted sharply out of the ground with sheer cliffs on all sides. Trunks had been spending the flight lost in his own thoughts and it took Goten flaring his ki almost to the point of going Super Saiyan in order to catch Trunks’s attention to the spot.

They landed and started doing some stretches, the flight over already acting as a decent warm up in getting their energy roused. Soon enough they were facing off from each other in ready stances. Goten always insisted on starting a spar with a bow and Trunks was obliged to return the gesture.

The air stilled until it was suddenly split when they both launched themselves forward and met in and then they met in the middle in an exchange of punches and kicks. None of them really connected, call it lack of really trying or an overfamiliarity with the other’s moves to know when to block and dodge. It was almost like it was choreographed to exert the energy without any of the actual consequences of the blows.

But Trunks wasn’t in the mood for one of those spars where they just went through the motions, when they never used their full strength. Not when apparently this was all that he was good for to Goten, who apparently _ only _ wanted Trunks to fight with him. So be it. If that was how it was going to be Trunks was going to give him a hell of a fight.

He shot skywards to gain the elevation and readied a barrage of small ki blasts in order to force Goten into dodging back and missing Trunks’s immediate descent. Trunks was able to take advantage and actually landed a punch to Goten’s solar plexus, knocking the breath out of him, before bringing his knee up to hit Goten in the jaw and sending him flying backwards till he landed on his ass.

Trunks landed as he saw Goten stagger to his feet, he was breathing hard to try and get air back into his lungs. “That hurt,” he finally managed to gasp out.

“Didn’t feel like holding back, come on, let’s make this a real fight.”

“Okay, okay.” Goten took a few more deep breaths before readying himself once more. This time when they flew at each other their moves were a lot quicker and packed more power, they weren’t just trying to land a blow, their limbs were glowing with ki and they were trying to make a real impact.

Goten landed a kick on Trunks’s knee hard enough Trunks’s stance wavered for a second, just a second but it was all the time Goten needed to follow up with a sweep that knocked Trunks’s feet from under him. Trunks quickly brought his hands down to the ground and turned the fall into a flip before launching himself back into the sky again. Goten pursued and soon the sky over the mesa was filled with them darting around at great speeds, trying to both land a hit while at the same time using the greater maneuverability of the air to dodge out of the way.

With every missed blow Trunks felt his anger and frustration rise. He was really trying but it felt like Goten was still just coasting along instead of actually trying. He growled as Goten moved away yet again and heused the distancing to take the chance to power up to Super Saiyan.The immediate ki burst gave him the edge to grab ahold of Goten's leg, and where he grabbed was the fulcrum to leverage Goten to slam bodily into the surface of the mesa.

Once again Goten was left reeling as he lay in the small crater his body created. When he finally sat up he looked up to Trunks who was still in the air. “Trunks! What are you doing going Super!” His yell was rough and guttural as he tried to catch his breath.

“What are you doing staying in base, I thought I said not to hold back!” Trunks responded and came flying at Goten, giving him barely enough time to power up himself. Goten caught Trunks’s fist and brought his own glowing fist up into Trunks’s face. Trunks was forced back by the impact and had to catch himself in midair.

“Trunks, what’s with you?” Goten asked as he stood up and regained his footing. Trunks ignored his question in favor of flying at him and using the force to push the both of them over the edge of the mesa. They grappled some more in the air next to the edge until Trunks was able to catch Goten off guard with a sharp kick followed by a large ki blast that sent him into the cliffside. 

Trunks paused as he waited for Goten to emerge from the hole he’d bored into the cliff and wondered if maybe he should take it a step down, he had been going pretty hard this fight. But then he heard the words _ never work as mates _ echo in his ears and suddenly he was sure he wasn’t going hard enough. He felt fury and rage roar through him so loud it completely blocked out any other noise that he could hear. He dimly noticed he was yelling and finally realized that the strange tingle he’d been feeling was the sparking of electricity.

He’d gone Super Saiyan 2.

He and Goten only took this form a few times before, brief moments that they’d spark over into the ascended form before falling back down to regular Super Saiyan. But it had only been moments. They hadn’t shared the discovery with anyone, easy and mutual agreement that it was better left a secret between the two of them. They’d never really done much in that state. More importantly they’ve never really _ fought _ in this state. And for the first time Trunks felt like he wanted to change that. He wanted to be more severe. Wanted to use the full force of his powers.

Wanted Goten to see what he was capable of.

He started powering up a large blast, one of the largest he’d ever used so that when Goten finally did appear from the cliffside Trunks was just about ready to fire it. Goten took one look at him and Trunks could see the surprise on his face.

“Keep up Goten.” And he waited just a moment to finish gathering ki and to give Goten enough time to prepare before he fired the blast directly at him, sending him down into the ground below. Trunks hovered in the air as he watched the dust settle around the giant crater that the impact left. That blast had been more than enough to take out the core of the planet if Goten hadn’t tanked it and there was only one way Goten would have been able to do that.

And sure enough when Goten finally flew up out of the crater he similarly had ascended to Super Saiyan 2.

Good. Goten should be thrilled- now Trunks could finally go all out.

Goten started gathering ki for what was probably a kamehameha judging by his moves but Trunks wasn’t worried. He flew down and met the blast head on, raising his ki that was wrapped around him tremendously so he could cancel out the force of the move. It wasn’t enough to completely negate however, he could feel the burn and sizzle on his skin and his clothes were probably not going to last long after this fight was over. It wasn’t the smartest way to fight, it used up a lot of ki to counter a blast when you could just dodge it. But he was aiming to keep up the momentum and flew directly at Goten who didn’t have enough time to prepare a follow up move but still met Trunks in an exchange of fists during which rocks were breaking under their ki-wrapped feet.

Goten broke the stalemate by turning one punch into a ki blast, directed straight at Trunks’s face. He had to rear back from that, and hadn’t had time to flare his ki so he took the might of the blast and could feel the burn on his face. He reached out to touch his cheek and Goten took advantage to kick him in the stomach and sent Trunks flying back first a meter into the bottom rock of the mesa. Trunks took a second to catch his breath and then powered off two large blasts from his hands, vaporizing the rock in front of him, freeing him to escape. He came roaring out of the new hole he’d just made and launched himself at Goten.

As they fought Trunks noted distantly how different it was to have this much power at his disposal. It was nothing like regular Super Saiyan. It wasn’t that he had more ki in Super Saiyan 2, it was that he was using a lot more of it all at once. The difference between an oil lamp steadily burning for hours and lighting up a barrel of kerosene for the explosion. This fight would probably be shorter than most of their spars, no way they could keep up this amount of energy for long. But that didn’t mean he was going to hold back.

But suddenly something else caught his attention. 

“I think that’s enough!” Vegeta’s voice boomed through the air.

Trunks dropped his hands and looked up and saw his father and Goku standing on top of the mesa both holding fingers to their heads. When had they arrived? Trunks hadn’t noticed their ki before now. Then again he probably would have had a challenge to sense them over the roar of ki he and Goten were putting off.

Both men stepped off the top of the rock and started descending down to where Goten and Trunks’s level on the ground.

“Oh Vegeta, I thought you said you wouldn’t be able to do Instant Transmission again?” Goku said none too quietly.

“I wasn’t sure. But I felt that I was needed here so I attempted it. Clearly I remembered more from my training than I had first thought.”

Trunks turned his attention back to Goten, a much more interesting target then going after their dads. His only focus was fighting with Goten. Now that they were finally here, fighting like this, why should they stop? He sent out another ki blast in Goten’s direction to get his attention and immediately darted over to catch Goten off guard when he dodged the blast. Sure enough Goten had moved left and Trunks was ready to level a kick at him.

Instead he felt a firm hand on his shoulder and he looked over to see Goku standing next to him. How had he moved that fast? Did he just use instant transmission for 10 meters? “Hey, Trunks-” But he didn’t want to put up with any interruptions to their fight and he jerked out of Goku’s grip to get back to throwing another blast at Goten.

“Whoa, hey now,” Goku said and threw himself between the boys with his hand stretched out, blocking them from continuing. “Trunks, how about you boys hold it back some? You guys are using a lot of power right now. I could feel your fight all the way from Papaya Island.”

“Similar,” Vegeta added. Unlike Goku he hadn’t moved to block them from fighting with his own body but he was standing close by and Trunks could feel his eyes boring into him.

“I didn’t know you guys could go Super Saiyan 2!” And there was Goku, sounding delighted by the discovery. Yes, because of course that would make him happy. Trunks didn’t know why they were bothering to interfere, clearly everyone would be happier if they pushed their fighting further. Everyone would get what they wanted. Except Trunks.

Goten stepped forward and pushed one of his father’s hands down as he looked directly at Trunks, “Trunks, what’s going on? You’re taking this way too seriously.”

And hearing that something inside of Trunks just broke. Here he was trying to be what Goten wanted and he was still doing that wrong too? He felt this burning anger in him that Goten would go and turn everything about them into this. They had been perfect and now it was ruined all because Goten wanted to be kismesis.

“Too seriously! What are you talking about, you’re the one who wants to make this a bigger thing. I guess I just never got the memo because I’ve been holding back this whole time. I wasn’t taking it seriously before but I am now, no more holding back to be at your strength, you’re going to have to work to keep up with me! Get on my level!” Trunks was getting louder and more distraught with every word. Where did Goten get off being upset that Trunks was finally taking him seriously? He was the one who wanted their relationship to be built on fighting.

“What are you talking about? Why are you saying this?” Oh, how dare Goten stand there acting like Trunks was the one being unreasonable. This was what Goten wanted when he said they were kismesis, pushing each other to higher and higher standards, fights that were serious and not easy spars.

“Why am I angry! Because I was red for you, you idiot! How could you not see!” His voice broke around the last words and he had to fight to maintain control so he didn’t break down. He was yelling now and very aware that both his dad and Goku were right here and could hear everything. This hadn’t been how he had wanted Goku to first hear they were together. But it didn’t matter right now, what mattered was hurting Goten a fraction of how much Trunks had been hurt. “Isn’t this what you wanted Goten! Am I good enough for you now? You wanted kismesis right, well you can fucking have it because I assure you I HATE you.”

He flash stepped around Goku, who must have been too surprised to respond in time, to get into reach to strike at Goten. Didn’t matter that they weren’t fighting at the moment, if Goten was going to let his guard down then it was his fault if he got hit.

But mid-motion Trunks suddenly found himself freezing in place. With a lot of effort he managed to turn his head and saw his father had red hair and an outstretched hand, he must have been using his divine ki to hold him in place.

“Boy, you will listen when you are told to stop.”

It took Trunks some effort before he managed to speak and even then he couldn’t manage to shout, “You’re the one who always told me to take fighting more seriously. Why are you stopping me from doing that?”

“I didn’t say you should be reckless. And that’s what you are. You are being far too emotional to think rationally and you’re endangering the planet. This fight is over. Power down.”

Goten obediently resumed his base form, hair no longer glowing yellow, but Trunks only intensified his fruitless efforts at breaking the hold. The divine ki however was far too much for him to wriggle out of. At a noise he turned his head back to see that Goten was starting to cry.

“How can you say that this is what I wanted? It’s nothing like how we should be!” he yelled with tears streaking down his face and any other time Trunks would be the first one to try and stop Goten from crying but all he felt was satisfaction at it.

“Hey, Goten, it’s okay.” Goku reached out to him but his hand was shaken off by a distraught Goten so he turned back to the others. Bewildered as what to do but well intentioned. “Vegeta, what’s going on here?”

“A textbook example of the dangers of mixing red and black romance. It turns toxic in a person and can lead to emotional volatility, reckless behavior, and lack of concern for consequences of actions.” Vegeta sighed and pinched his head like he was fighting off a migraine. “I had hoped this wasn’t going to be a concern for the boys but I guess not even they are immune to the dangers of vacillation.”

“Oh,” Goten muttered.

“Kakarot, take Goten away from here. Leave me to deal with my son.”

“Right,” agreed Goku. Who turned back to Goten and held out a hand. “Goten, I think right now fighting is the last thing you guys should be doing. Come on, I’ll take you home.” Goku put his fingers to his head and reached his free hand out towards Goten who took one more look around before taking his father’s hand. They both disappeared a second later.

Only then did Vegeta lower his arm and his aura fade as Trunks felt the control return to his limbs. He could move again.

He reared back around to face his father, he could feel the electricity sparking up again. “This doesn’t concern you! Why did you come!” He roared into his father’s face, but his father was impassive.

“It concerns me when my own son is endangering the planet. There was a reason I found it necessary to attempt Instant Transmission again, I could sense how much ki you two were giving off and how uncontrolled it was. I will deal with all major threats to the Earth, even if I have to count my son among them. Power. Down.”

With that Trunks finally relented and let himself fade back down to base, fruitless efforts at breaking the hold. The divine ki however was far too much for him to wriggle out of. All at once he remembered what he’d said to Goten and was overtaken with the urge to shout some more but the person he really wanted to yell at wasn’t his father.

Vegeta turned to face West City. “We’re going home. I’m dubious if I will be able to use Instant Transmission again, especially without a large enough target to lock onto. So we will be flying back. We can discuss your decision to once again break your grounding when we get home.”

“Yeah, yeah. I don’t care.”

Vegeta turned back and leveled a look at Trunks. “You will cease your backtalk if you don’t want to make your punishment any worse. I understand you are upset right now but that is no excuse for what just happened between you and Goten. You are too powerful to behave so recklessly, no matter the reason for it. You will not be sparring with him until you regain control over your emotional state.”

“My emotional state, is that what you’re going to refer to it by? Not the fact that Goten wimped out when I finally was doing this kismesis thing right. It’s what he wanted, why is he backing off when I finally return things black?”

“Because your feelings aren’t wholly black. You’re combining desperate emotions and impulses from opposite ends of the scale and the contradiction is grating at you till you act out without thinking” Vegeta grunted and launched into the sky before pausing expectantly for Trunks to follow. Trunks sighed but then took off and met up with his father in the air.

“Was this what Raditz meant? About volatile results?” he shouted to his father when they started flying back. Trunks could already tell it was going to be a struggle to keep pace with his father, he hadn’t felt this low on ki since last time he’d defused after Gotenks had gone Super Saiyan 3.

“Yes,” Vegeta called back. “I don’t know what has suddenly changed for you, I’ve noticed how you and the boy seem to confuse yourselves when you’re around each other. Combining you training with your obvious pining. But you both seemed stable enough and I saw no reason for concern.”

Trunks didn’t like the sound of that. “But now you _ do _ see a problem?”

“You nearly destroyed the planet, of course there is a problem.”

Vegeta didn’t say anything else and they continued their flight in silence until suddenly he added on. “It might be nothing if everything can be sorted out. When we get home, I’m going to have your mother speak with you, she would be a better source of advice in these matters.”

Oh no.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this chapter was a bit of a challenge for me to write, I’m much more comfortable writing snarky banter then a fight scene god damn.
> 
> So this was finally the chapter I could explore the black vs red stuff for Trunks and Goten. I wanted to capture that they’re both very much in love but are interpreting it through different means. 
> 
> Spare a thought to just completely out of their depths Vegeta and Goku are to be hearing about the boys relationship issues. They are going to be of absolutely zero help. They barely understand their own relationships.
> 
> As of writing this chapter the Super manga has had Vegeta use Instant Transmission once and then try to go “but I’ll probably never be able to do it again”. Well guess what I’m electing to ignore. 
> 
> Next chapter is a lot more relationship drama and is pretty much just a series of conversations between the boys and others. I’m hoping to have it done quicker then this one, but we’ll see.


	11. The Bittersweet Between My Teeth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from “Young Blood” by The Naked and Famous. Betaed by Zesparia.

#  **(Trunks)**

Trunks was lying on his bed staring up at the ceiling replaying the events of the day in his head. Not the lecture he’d received after they landed back at Capsule Corp and the punishments Vegeta had listed off, grounding extended, this time with no workshop privileges, no video games of any kind, and if he messed up again he’d lose access to his computer. He had barely registered his father’s words then and Vegeta must have sensed it because he cut the lecture short and just sent Trunks to his room until further notice. 

No, what Trunks was focused on was going over the fight with Goten and where it had gone wrong. It wasn’t like he didn’t get his father’s point about them being far too reckless out there. Super Saiyan 2 wasn’t a form where you were meant to hold back in. And he hadn’t wanted to endanger the Earth, that was never something Trunks had intended, but he had just hadn’t been thinking about much in the moment outside of Goten and pressing his face into the ground at supersonic speeds.

But that made him think about how Goten had started crying like a giant baby. Something like guilt began to slowly rise to the surface for Trunks. Had he really meant it? Or had he just said it out of anger and hurt about the fact that Goten wanted them to be kismesis?

Wasn’t that what he was supposed to be feeling if they were black? If it was he didn’t know why his father liked it so much, it sucked. He despised this anger burning in him demanding that he hurt Goten in recompense for the burn he felt. To beat Goten into submission and prove he was better.

After a while Trunks heard a knocking at his door. He lifted his head up from where it was buried under a pillow and reached out with his ki senses to see who it was. He realized who it was just as his mother’s voice came through the door, “Honey, want to talk about some stuff?”

“Go away,” he yelled back.

“See your words say ‘go away’ but everything else is saying, ‘Mom, please come in, I need someone to talk to right now’.”

Trunks thought about it and realized she wasn’t going to go away and if he didn’t let her in soon she would make his situation worse. Bulma always got her way. Finally, figuring it was the path of least resistance he got up and unlocked the door and allowed his mother to come in.

“I don’t want to talk about Goten.” It was the first thing out of his mouth because he wanted to make it clear that it wasn’t going to be negotiated. He didn’t know what his father had told her about the situation but he had to assume it must have been everything. His dad was such a snitch.

“What? That?” Bulma waved her hand dismissively, putting a bit too much effort into showing how little she cared. “We can talk about other stuff, whatever comes to your mind. Come on, let’s have a good old-fashioned gab session.” She walked over to his bed, and after straightening his covers took a seat. “I’m sure there’s a lot of stuff on your mind right now, we can talk about anything you want.”

Trunks wasn’t feeling particularly charitable and he was still tense from the fight and frustrated at being interrupted in the middle of it, it felt like he had been blue balled from a proper ending. If his mom was going to barge in and insist on talking then he was going to make it as uncomfortable for her as possible. He walked over to the bed and took a seat next to her before looking her dead in the eyes.

“Okay, why are you okay with Dad being with Goku?”

It had been something that had been bothering Trunks for a while, even as it had been an accepted aspect of his life for the past five years. The strange relationship between the Saiyan men that his mother tolerated. Trunks had never understood how she could stand it, he couldn’t imagine being okay with sharing Goten with anyone. Ever.

Bulma sat back on the bed and turned her gaze to the room’s ceiling, “Oh boy. This conversation, you’re starting with the rough stuff. Okay, fine, I’ve known this would be coming at some point, but you’d think I would have prepared for it better. Let’s give this a shot.” She pulled up her legs and sat crossed-legged on the bed and looked at her hands for a few minutes before finally looking up. “Okay so, your father isn’t a normal Earthling.”

“You don’t say.”

Bulma shot him a glare. “You were the one who wanted an explanation and the only one you’re going to get is probably going to be pretty rambly, so cut the sass and let me talk.”

She settled herself back on the bed. “So your father isn’t a normal Earthling, he’s from an alien species and an alien culture, and no matter how much he’s adapted to our world he’s always going to be different. He’s not going to be like a house cat you’ve raised from a kitten. He’s a feral cat that you’ve brought in, part of him is always going to be wild. And that means being adaptable to new things.

“But that being said I still can read Vegeta and his emotions, probably honestly better than he can read them himself most of the time. From that I can figure out his intentions. And he had intended to never bring the subject up.”

Bulma smiled at Trunks as she reached her hand towards his head playfully, Trunks was quick to catch her arm to prevent any hair ruffling but relented at the face she made. She began to run her hand through his hair and in spite of himself he began to feel a little calmer. 

“Did you know that the first time I heard the word kismesis it wasn’t your father who said it, but that male Saiyan from Universe 6, Cabba I think, during that little tournament Beerus and Champa put on between Universe 6 and 7. I had no idea what the word was or what Cabba meant by bringing it up, but Vegeta sure did, he started blustering and ended the conversation there but I was curious and nagged him about it later till he finally explained it to me. And of course the moment I heard I knew instantly that this was what his feelings were toward Goku.” 

She paused to gather her words and her eyes drifted up to the ceiling and removed her hand from his hair. She looked contemplative and unsure of how best to phrase what she wanted to say and it was a few minutes before she finally continued.

“When he first told me he was worried I’d be upset about the whole thing, see it as an emotional infidelity, though he didn’t say it so much in those terms. But he was careful to stress that the whole black thing was completely different emotionally for Saiyans. With a different purpose. And I believed him because it all made so much sense. He’s always been, well,” she rolled her eyes in lieu of actually saying anything, “about Goku and finally hearing an explanation for it made it all make more sense to me.

“I asked what had been stopping him from acting on these feelings this entire time. I’m not going to kid myself that he always cared for me as much as he does now, I know it was a slow process of him opening up and coming to terms with it. But there was a lot of time where he would not have cared what I thought on the matter and yet he never pursued it.”

She let out a small laugh. “Well turns out he’d been under the presumption that Goku had been rejecting him this entire time, and wanted to save himself the embarrassment of mentioning it. Instead of you know, considering that Goku might not have been aware of this alien thing he’d never heard of, but that’s another discussion about the idiocy of your father.

“I was convinced by your father’s words that he was very serious about his feelings for Goku and that they’d been there for a long time and weren’t going away. And I don’t care how he claims it’s just a feeling of hate, that’s either a lie he’s telling himself or that all the Saiyans told themselves. It’s clearly much more than that.”

“I read up on some kismesis stuff,” Trunks offered. “It’s not what I would call hate, but drive.”

“Yeah that makes sense,” Bulma said considering. “When I look at Vegeta it rings truer than his blustering about hating Goku like a tsundere.”

“Mom!” Trunks did not need to hear his father referred to as a tsundere.

“What? Oh come on, you know it’s true.” And- Okay, maybe he did think about it for a moment and saw more similarities than he would like.

“Still.”

“So after that conversation I was faced with a choice. I could let my husband suffer from his seemingly unrequited crush or I could maybe be a bit more open minded and consider the matter. It wasn’t like your father was seeking to cheat on me, I could tell that much. To him red and black were entirely separate emotions. And I was convinced that Vegeta meant it when he said he had no interest in being with anyone else romantically or physically, red or black.

“After that I took the only sensible option available and had a long talk with ChiChi on the matter. Once we talked through the concept she was as certain as I was that it probably wasn’t as unrequited as Vegeta thought it was.

“Basically we agreed to it because we didn’t think it would be that big of a change fundamentally, it’s not like I would ever agree to an open relationship with your father or allow him to be with another woman, but his weird alien hatemance with Goku? As long as he behaves himself and doesn’t neglect his family I don’t see a problem with it. I don’t understand all of it, but I can judge him by his actions and see how much happier it’s made him.”

“Really? You don’t have a problem with him wanting to kill Goku?” Trunks asked skeptically.

“Well for whatever reason Goku is into it, so I can’t exactly deny them both something they want. Plus it’s not going to happen for another 25 or 30 years, hopefully. Am I happy about it? No, I’m not.” She admitted with a long sigh before continuing. “But I accept it. I’m sad I won’t have a husband to grow old with me, but that was never going to be an option once I decided I was going to be with your father. I’ve come to realize growing old isn’t something Saiyans do willingly. They want to live out their youth beating each other senseless.”

“I still don’t understand how you can just accept all this dumb alien bullshi.” Trunks muttered. He’d seen what normal people’s idea of the world was like, all the time hanging out with their friends from school had taught him enough. They lived in a world where the hero of the world was Hercule Satan who’d saved the world from Buu but no one would really remember how he’d done it. And everything was always so strangely  _ ordinary _ when he was hanging around them, it was what he had liked so much about them. They were a break from the insanity of his life.

And that had been his mother once. Back before everything had happened she was just another Earthling living her life. But now she couldn’t be more different, arranging dinner dates with gods and being forbidden from working on a time machine.

“Hey!” She protested with a huff. “I was  _ there _ dealing with Goku’s dumb alien bullshit back before he even knew  _ what _ he was. Did I mention all the times he turned into a giant monkey Or when he fought King Piccolo!”

“You might have mentioned the monkey thing.”

“Well there you go. I’ve been adaptable to all the new strangeness better than anyone. And because I’ve been there this whole time I’ve seen how people have grown up and have changed. And no one has changed more than your father.” She paused for a moment, thinking over her next words before she surprised Trunks.

“You know the only reason your father came to Earth was because of Goku.”

“What?” He thought his father had come to Earth because it was a peaceful place and he was no longer serving under Frieza.

“It’s true. Though I guess I should back up. It was after Namek, where I first met your father not under the best circumstances. He threatened to kill me to take a Dragon Ball, but not that long after Vegeta was suddenly working with us because the next bad guy was terrible and going to kill us all if they could and then the next guy after that was even worse. I never even saw Frieza but I remember being terrified out of my mind on Namek that Goku wouldn’t be enough, and that was all just based on hearing about him. But then Goku came through and we managed to revive pretty much everyone and bring them to Earth.

“That was the first time I really saw Vegeta for longer than a brief moment. He gloated about the fact that the village he’d killed hadn’t been resurrected. And then in the next moment figured out how to wish Krillin and Goku, who we thought was dead at the time, back to life when no one else could. He was like a strange enigma to me, horrible one moment and then helpful and brilliant in the next.”

Trunks said nothing. While he had never heard about these particular deeds his father had committed he had been told enough times that his father had once been someone who committed murderous acts. He’d picked up on it when he’d heard the occasional sniping Yamcha made behind Vegeta’s back, or Vegeta made to Yamcha’s face about how once he’d been responsible for his death. And that was to someone who was a close family friend. His father had worked for Frieza and Trunks had heard enough to get a sense that it was hardly a bloodless position.

Bulma continued, “I didn’t realize at the time how much of it was because of him wanting to fight Goku again. When we heard that Goku was still alive off in space and wasn’t coming home anytime soon, Vegeta stole one of Dad’s spaceships and took off after him until he ran out of gas and came back. I’m sure I’ve told you that story before. But he knew Goku would return so he stayed.

“And there I was hosting all these Namekians, who were lovely for the most part, and your father, who was the most inhospitable man I’d ever met. So there I was stuck housing this alien man who I thought wasn’t interested in anything but training, but looking back now I realize he was a fish out of water and adjusting to what living on Earth was like. He would sometimes ask the strangest questions, like how could I be friends with Oolong and eat pork. But it was him trying to learn more about Earth and what it would entail to stay.

“But he wasn’t planning to stay for me, at first. We only got together a year later-”

“Yes mom, I know.” Trunks interrupted as he frantically tried to steer the conversation back to safer waters, he had heard his mother’s drunken rambles a few times about just how his parents first got together, and the phrase ‘one-night stand in the gravity chamber’ was not something he was going to forget easily.

Bulma gave him a playful shove before continuing, “Being with Vegeta meant adjusting to a lot of things I never would have imagined myself putting up with. He certainly wasn’t what I pictured as a girl when I was dreaming of a perfect boyfriend. Vegeta’s just fundamentally different from what an Earthling man is like and the Saiyan thing is only part of it.

“But I’ve come to terms with what it means, my husband is an alien and that means my children are part Saiyan. It’s so easy to forget sometimes because you look so much like regular humans, but you’re not. Things work differently for you guys, and that means I’m still learning everything that entails, not just that my little boy can break mountains with his fists but that I apparently will never be good enough at braiding my daughter’s hair. And it means things are always going to be different for you boys.”

Trunks thought about it a minute then offered up, “Did you hear about Gohan finding out about the second puberty thing?”

Bulma laughed before looking guilty, “Oh I shouldn’t laugh at that. Poor Gohan, he has to be the first to learn all the hard lessons. Just be grateful that you get to learn from his example.” She ran a hand over Trunks’s shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“But honey, I’m probably one of the few qualified Earthlings around who could help you if something is bothering you. I may not be qualified as a Saiyan but I am qualified as a mother of one to talk about it.”

Could he really talk about it with her? Finally open up about the thing he’d been keeping a secret for two years. If you had asked Trunks even a few days ago he would have dismissed it out of hand. He didn’t want his mother butting in on his relationship, didn’t want to hear her opinions or her reassurances. But now he was adrift and still riding the residual emotional shockwaves of having gone Super Saiyan 2 earlier. Maybe now he could actually use her for advice.

“Okay Mom,” Trunks looked down at his feet and willed up his resolve to get this over with “so Goten and I are, well we’re kind of together.”

“Oh, so you’re finally owning up to it?” When he looked up at her she gave his hair a playful flick.

“You knew?” Trunks demanded apprehensively. Was everyone just already aware even though they’d been working so hard to keep it on the down-low?

Bulma gave a soft smirk, “No, I didn’t know for certain but I was well aware it was a possibility. I tried to avoid making any assumptions, especially when you were so resistant to engaging in any discussions about dating anyone with me. I knew you’d tell me when you were comfortable, so I was waiting on that.”

“Was that why you kept bringing up all those young single heiresses or that time you talked to Westopolis magazine when they ran that article about young bachelors that had me in it? To test me to see if I was dating anyone?”

“That was me hedging my bets. I wanted you to have the pick of whoever you wanted for when you finally detached yourself from that hoverbike you’re unhealthily fixated on. You’re the son and heir of the Briefs family, I’m sure there are few girls your age who wouldn’t be interested, or boys for that matter. But I was always aware that person might end up being Goten, especially with how close you boys had been growing up. So I didn’t want to pry even when it seems you guys spent all of your free time together.”

Trunks sat in silence, taking in his mother’s words. It was of some comfort to know that she didn’t have a problem with him and Goten, he hadn’t really thought she would but she’d known Goten his whole life. While the shift from best friends to something more had seemed so natural to Trunks, he wasn’t ignorant of the fact it might have been a harder adjustment to make for his mom. That the little boy with Goku’s hair that had grown up with Trunks was now the one he was dating.

Bulma finally broke the moment of silence, “You know, if you’re having problems with him you can come to me. I promise I’ll do my best to offer advice and keep my teasing to a minimum.”

Ah yes, and here was the digging. “What did Dad tell you?”

“Well besides you breaking your grounding and the punishment we’re going to have to figure out? Mostly that he had broken up a fight between you two at full power, without being mindful of your surroundings. And that this was a relationship issues in there somewhere. He practically begged me to come talk to you so he wouldn’t have to.”

“Really?” Trunks tried to imagine his father begging for anything.

“His version of pleading anyway. So come on, what’s up?”

Trunks took a deep breath before he just let loose, “It’s all Goten’s fault. He told me he wanted us to be black. Can you believe it, me and Goten? Black! Then when I saw he was being serious about it I tried to take it seriously back, that’s what our fight was about. But he totally wimped out and then Dad and Goku went and interrupted everything.”

“So you two being black means having to fight each other in the same form Gohan took when he fought Cell?” Bulma asked sharply. Which, yeah when she put it that easy it was more than a little overkill. His dad and Goku would often train against each other in their base form, it still would increase your strength so that when you transformed the new state only further multiplied your power. 

“I don’t know, I was trying to do the kismesis thing right. But I just felt this rage in me that kept pushing at me and nothing was enough. So I had to go to 2,” he defended even though he knew he wasn’t being truthful. He’d wanted to go 2 to hurt Goten.

“You said Goten wanted the both of you to be black, was that a new thing?” Bulma asked, prodding trying to suss out more information.

“Well it was to me.” Trunks sighed before he gave up on holding the information back, “I thought we were red and then he went and changed everything. How am I supposed to be okay with this? I thought we were in love and now I find out it’s all twisted.” A new thought suddenly struck Trunks. “And does that mean he’s going to want to take a mate too? I don’t want Goten to be with anyone but me!”

“That sounds like a conversation you and Goten need to be having. The two of you need to work out your boundaries for yourselves.”

“I don’t want to talk to Goten,” Trunks grunted. He was still angry at Goten for turning this whole thing upside down and ruining their perfectly fine relationship.

“Oh honey, I know teenage emotions are tough, and that’s all the more true for you. But I promise you that whatever your feeling, you’ll feel better after you have a conversation with Goten where you guys can clear things up.”

“How can I just talk to him after what I did? I said I hated him and instead of making him happy it made him cry, Mom.” The guilt that had been slowly building was finally spilling over and oh Trunks  _ hated _ to think about what he’d done. He never wanted to make Goten cry, but then suddenly these dark feelings in him bubbled up and turned Trunks into someone he didn’t like.

“I can’t do this black thing, I just can’t.” He admitted, the realization building in him. “But that’s what Goten wants so what am I supposed to say to him? Goten, I’m in love with you but I can’t be with you because we want different things?” He turned to his mother, demanding some sort of resolution to his situation.

Bulma sighed and reached over to rub his shoulders. “I’m not sure what the answer is to your situation but I know that you guys can work through this if you both try.”

“How can you know that! Mom, what exactly can I do? The guy I love says he hates me and wants me to hate him back. But when I try I just turn into this mean person that I don’t want to be. I can’t do it and that means I can’t be with my soulmate.” Trunks felt himself begin to start spiraling into despair. He didn’t even notice that he let the word soulmate slip, something he’d normally never have admitted to.

“Well I’m sure that the two of you will work it all out because I know you can do it. Yes, this whole thing seems like an insurmountable obstacle right now but I’m sure there is an answer that can be found if you boys try. You two can’t stay away from each other forever, eventually you’re going to make up. But only if you talk with Goten.”

“I can’t just message him to talk, not after what happened. If he wants to talk to me I’ll respond back, but not before then. I don’t even know what I can say. I’m just so angry that he had to go and mess everything up. Or force me to mess it up.” Judge was still out on who had struck the fatal blow but Trunks was going to be damned if he had to take all the responsibility when it was Goten who had  _ wanted _ to be black.

“Well it’s alright if you want to take a few days to work out your thoughts and what you’re going to say. Maybe taking some time will be for the best. You’re certainly going to have the time now that you're going to be losing your lab privileges for the next two weeks. I’m going to install a lockout code on your lab.”

“Mom!”

“Just be glad it’s not for a month like your father wanted. Trunks, you deliberately broke your grounding and I know you’re almost an adult but you still live under my roof. You can draw up blueprints on your computers until then. And if you really feel the need to do some work you can always come join me in my lab.” She ruffled his hair some before getting off the bed. “Well I’m going to get back to work, you can join me if you want or just stay up here.”

“I think I’ll pass right now.”

“Okay, see you later honey.”

  
  


#  **(Goten)**

Goten blinked when he took his father’s hand and when he opened his teary eyes they were standing outside the Son family house at Mount Paozu. Their arrival must have been felt because it wasn’t a minute later that a “Dad!” and “Goku!” rang out as ChiChi threw open the door and Gohan flew out a window to arrive next to them. Goten pulled closer to Goku so they wouldn’t see his face.

“Hey guys,” Goku greeted cheerfully like he hadn’t been missing for months. “I’m not staying, I’m just bringing Goten home from his fight.”

“Wait, you’re telling me that was Goten I was sensing?” Gohan asked, surprised.

“Sensed what?” asked ChiChi.

“Oh just a fight between Goten and Trunks. They were both Super Saiyan 2!” Goku said and thumped a hand on Goten’s back, and oh Goten just wanted to melt at the  _ pride _ in his voice. He hadn’t wanted his dad to find out about that. Goku was going to take it as encouragement to get on his son’s back about fighting together. He didn’t want to fight with Goku, his dad was always way too into it and was way too eager to trade blows and it sucked. It wasn’t any fun. Fighting was only fun when it was with Trunks.

But then again that last fight hadn’t been fun at all.

“O-oh,” Gohan stammered. “I wasn’t aware you guys were capable of that form. Explains all the ki you guys were giving off.”

“Oh who cares about Super Saiyan 2!” ChiChi interrupted, “Goten why are your clothes a mess. Was this a spar or an actual fight? Are your father’s bad habits rubbing off on you?”

“Hey,” Goku protested, “I don’t ruin all my training gear.”

“I’m always having to patch up your gis, and we don’t have a sewing machine!” ChiChi countered.

Goten tuned out the all-too familiar dance of his mother berating his father. Finally his mom turned her attention back to him and grabbed at his arm, attempting to tug him away from Goku’s side.

“Oh sweetie what happened?” She asked, her voice suddenly full of concern as she got a look at Goten’s tear-streaked face.

Gohan stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder, “You okay there buddy? I know Super Saiyan 2 gives me a hell of a residual emotional hangover. Don’t feel bad if you have to cry, it always takes me a while till I regain control of everything again after.”

Goten suddenly felt suffocated by all the people touching him and trying to reassure him. He didn’t want both his mother and brother cooing over him because he had some tears on his face. He shoved his way free of all of their hands and took a few steps before turning around to face them. “It’s not that. Can everyone please just lay off right now, I’ll be fine.”

“I don’t know Goten,” said Goku and he was concerned which just grated on Goten more, “you didn’t seem very fine back there. And you’re still crying.” The concern in his voice just grated on Goten. Of all the times for his dad, of all people, to get in on the “caring about Goten’s feelings train.”

He angrily rubbed his face to clear away the tear tracks and took a deep breath to center himself.

“Hey Goten, do you want to talk about it?” Gohan asked.

“Oh he should talk with me,” ChiChi grabbed at Goten’s arm and pulled him into a hug he suddenly didn’t have the spirit to fight against, the way his mother would overrule him at times had instilled a forced response to submit to her whims. “I am his mother and no one else can help my baby boy like me. Are you saying he can’t talk to me!”

“Of course not Mom,” Gohan placated, “But it might be easier to talk with me, we have a bond between us brothers you did raise us to look out for each other, it’s only natural he should talk with me.”

ChiChi acknowledged his point by pulling Goten even closer to her. It was a tight hold, his mom was  _ strong _ for an Earthling, especially when she got like this. Normally if it had been anyone else he would have brought some of his ki out to wrap around him to negate the effects of her hold but he couldn’t do that to his  _ mom. _ Training with his mom when he was a kid had hammered home that using ki on her was a bad idea. So he just put up with it while he weighed his options, and which was the lesser of two evils.

“I guess I’ll talk with Gohan,” Goten finally said. His mother let out a big over dramatic sigh and released him.

“Okay, let me just finish up a few things,” said Gohan. “Why don’t you fly out and find a nice spot in the mountains and I can come join you when I’m done? Clear your head a bit and give you some time to calm down.”

Goten agreed and happily took the opportunity to flee as his mother turned to berating Goku for not dropping by more frequently. He took to the skies and tried to focus on nothing but the wind rushing past his face as he flew through the air.

Gods, sometimes his family really just got on his nerves, from his mom pressuring him to focus on his schoolwork and getting a degree over drawing. His perfect older brother who did everything right and was working as a professor at a university while having a young child. And his father who was both a continual savior of the Universe as well as being a giant manchild. It was like they all fit into little roles and then there was Goten. The second son that couldn’t live up to his older brother, be it studying or saving the world. Gohan had already done so much in his life and then there was Goten standing in the shadows. Even his father would always pick Gohan over Goten, like he did for the Tournament of Power.

The only time he didn’t feel like a second place pick was when he was with Trunks. Trunks looked at him like he was completely worthy of his attention and focus, never a placeholder for someone else. Goten felt like he could be himself around Trunks and be seen as who he really was.

But now Goten didn’t know what to think of the way Trunks had looked at him because suddenly everything was on its head. Trunks was  _ red _ for Goten? Since when? How had Goten not known, he’d thought they were on the same page with everything. But now he had no idea what to make of it.

Did that mean that Trunks wanted to take things differently then they had been so far? He was the one who said they should call themselves boyfriends, was he imagining them being like some regular couple instead of how they were? Doing more couple-y things like going to the movies and holding hands instead of hanging out and sparring. He was pretty sure that mates didn’t do the latter with each other. Was Trunks envisioning some future where Goten was basically his housewife, doing all the cooking and cleaning while Trunks helped run Capsule Corp? Did he think of Goten’s drawing as just a hobby to be put aside when he wasn’t playing house? Sure Trunks had never said anything like that but now Goten had no idea what to expect.

All these thoughts were going through his head as Goten landed near one of his favorite spots, some rocks on top of a mountain that he liked to sit on and look down at all of the scenery below.

But then again, maybe Trunks didn’t want to be boyfriends anymore after all. He’d said he hated Goten now, and it sounded like it was different then when Goten sometimes hated Trunks, because that hate was all tangled up in the love he felt. Trunks had sounded like he’d really meant it, truly and deeply. And Goten just didn’t know what to do with that. Had he somehow ruined them by wanting to be black? Were they even still together now? Or was that Trunks breaking up with him back there? Goten couldn’t imagine them continuing on as they had once been after that.

He was lost in his thoughts when he finally sensed Gohan approaching and looked up to see him land nearby. He didn’t get up and let Gohan walk over to take the seat next to him.

“Hey Goten, thanks for trusting me enough to take the first crack at this. What happened with your fight with Trunks?”

Goten thought about his words before finally offering, “I thought it was just going to be a regular spar but Trunks kept pushing it and when he went Super Saiyan 2 he didn’t give me a choice but to do the same in order to keep up.”

Gohan let out an awkward laugh. “Yeah, you guys usually don’t go Super Saiyan when you spar, I know I’d be able to feel it a lot more if you did. What made it so different this time? Why was Trunks trying to get you guys to use that much force?”

“Because I think he thought that I wanted him to?” Goten didn’t know how to dance around it anymore and he felt the words building up inside of him until he finally blurted out, speaking so fast his words began to blur together, “Trunks and I are together and all this time I thought we were black for each other but turns out I was wrong. The fight was so bad because Trunks said he was finally taking being kismesis seriously for the first time. But then it got too serious and our dads showed up to make us stop.”

“Whoa okay, give me a moment,” Gohan held up his hands,”That’s a lot of information all at once. You’re with Trunks? I thought you were dating one of your classmates, you know, the girl you sometimes mention.”

Goten sighed, it seemed that every bandage was getting ripped off today at once. “Inka is just a friend and I wanted an excuse for Mom to leave us alone when we were doing drawing streams.”

Gohan sighed, “You know Mom is going to be angry when she finds out you’ve been lying to her.”

“I know.” And that was another reason Goten wasn’t looking forward to having to talk with his mom.

“Okay, as for the thing with Trunks, well unfortunately I’m not sure how much help I can be, you kind of got me on unfamiliar territory for me here. I don’t understand black emotion. I mean I guess I comprehend it in theory but I don’t understand it. So I don’t know how much advice I can give you there. What’s it like being black for someone?”

“It means I love him but I also kind of hate his smug selfish face, and when I see it I feel this compulsion to punch or kiss it and often I don’t know which I’m supposed to do most of the time.”

Gohan didn’t say anything for a bit and just looked off into the valley below with a thoughtful expression before he asked “Are you guys serious?”

Were they serious? How could Goten sum up the fact that he’d been serious about Trunks his whole life. If he even began to try and put into words the depths of his feelings he knew he’d be seen as an overly enthusiastic kid who thought his first crush was the pinnacle of romance. He didn’t want to be dismissed like that, like what he felt for Trunks wasn’t real. “Yeah? I’m pretty sure Trunks is it for me, I don’t want anyone else. And I can’t imagine that ever changing.”

Gohan let out a laugh, “Yeah, well that does sound pretty serious. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, you guys have always been really close. And I’m sure that Gotenks stuff doesn’t help. I mean I’m happy for you if you’re happy with him, even if I don’t get it.”

Gohan’s approval comforted Goten a tiny bit, but it was vastly outweighed by the general tumult of feelings he was having. “Well I don’t know how that’s going to work anymore. Trunks says he’s red for me? I don’t get it, we’re not like that. At least I never thought we were.”

Gohan cocked his head, “Is it a bad thing, him being red for you?”

Gohan’s words stirred up something in Goten and he felt himself growing more agitated, “I don’t know what to do with it! How am I supposed to continue being with him if we want completely different things?”

“Well maybe the things you guys want aren’t that different. Even if you guys disagree on being red or black you still seem happy whenever I see you two together, which is pretty frequently, you’re always going over to Capsule Corp to spend time with him. I don’t see what exactly has to change.”

“Of course things have to change!” Geez, didn’t Gohan get it. “Besides, Vegeta and Raditz both said it’s bad to mix red and black, it leads to emotional volatility and other bad things.”

“Well, I guess they would know more about that then me. All I can see is how until now you guys have seemed to get along just fine. Maybe what you really need to do is just sit down and talk with Trunks about things, and you guys can work out where to go moving forward.”

“I don’t want to.” All Goten could see was a conversation where Trunks said that Goten needed to accept that they were going to be red or that they were through. And having to face that choice was something Goten was going to put off as long as possible, mainly because he didn’t know what he would choose. He couldn’t imagine being without Trunks, but at the same time he didn’t think he could do the saccharine sweetness of a red relationship.

Gohan sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “You know, and I know you’re going to hate me for suggesting this, but maybe talking to Mom wouldn’t be such a bad idea. She’s got more experience dealing with black stuff than me, she’s been dealing with Dad while he has his kismesis relationship with Vegeta these past few years. She probably could offer better advice.”

Goten groaned, “You’re the one who said she’d be angry with me.”

Gohan shrugged, “Yeah she will, but she also might be better at this relationship stuff then me. I mean I’m lucky Videl was the one who pursued me, I doubt we would have ever gotten together if she hadn’t told me we were going on a date. I know Mom is, well, a lot to deal with. But she was there for me when I was anxious about being with Videl. Seriously, you can talk with her.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Gohan then said his goodbyes about needing to get back to work and Goten sat on the mountain alone with his thoughts for another hour. Just trying to figure out a solution to his problems before he finally gave up and came to terms with the fact he was going to be chatting with his mom.

He flew back home and caught up with his mother in the kitchen. Goku had been brow-beaten into picking some vegetables from the field and had killed a wild boar before leaving to go back to see Uub, so they were going to be having hotpot for dinner. ChiChi asked if Goten wanted to talk then but he waved her off till after dinner. He took over butchering the boar and bringing the pieces in to slice up while his mom focused on the vegetables and preparing a giant tub of rice.

They set up the giant hotpot on the table outside, with plenty of extra broth standing by for when they started to run low. Soon they were joined by Gohan, who had finished his work; Videl, who had finished her workout; and Pan, whose afternoon cartoons were now over. They all sat around the table as twilight began to set in. Pan needed some help in dipping the food in the broth, but she had three adults who took turns cooking her food for her while she happily devoured it all. For dessert they had some homemade pineapple ice cream that Pan had spent the afternoon turning.

Gohan volunteered to clear the table and the dishes before he shot Goten a purposeful look. Right, he should probably talk with his mother now.

“Mom?” He called to her as they went back inside the house.

“Yes sweetie?” She looked over at him as she reached for her bag of knitting.

“Is the offer to talk to you still good? Gohan said you might be more helpful than him.”

“Of course, meet me in the living room.”

Goten took a few deep breaths as he sat down on the couch while his mother took a seat next to him. Come on Goten, he could do this. He’d faced off against Buu as a kid and he’d seen other bad guys sense. Buu wasn’t scarier than his mother. Right? Oh who was he kidding, he was terrified of this conversation. But he was going to have it anyways.

“So what was it that happened today that made you so upset? Was it that fight with Trunks?” ChiChi asked.

“Yeah, something like that.” One final deep breath and mustering up his courage. “Okay Mom, I don’t know how to tell you this so I’m just going to come out and say it, Trunks and I have been, well I guess you can call it dating for a while now.”

“How long?” Goten noticed the sharpness of her voice. Oh boy. Time to face the music here, better to just get it all over with at once.

“A couple of years,” he admitted mumblingly.

“ _ Years!” _ ChiChi’s voice rattled throughout the room. “You’ve been with Trunks for  _ years _ and you’ve kept it from me this whole time? Why, Goten? Was it because he’s a boy?”

“What? No, that’s not it Mom.” Well it may have been a part of it, he hadn’t exactly been looking forward to coming out to his mom who kept telling him how important it was he ended up with the right girl. “We just didn’t want to tell anyone.” Or Goten hadn’t. He remembered the way his mother had harangued Gohan about his relationship with Videl, and he hadn’t wanted any part of that. His mother would go and make things about him and Trunks awkward and be pushy and nosey about everything.

“Goten I let him share your room when he came over! And what about all those nights I let you stay over at Capsule Corp! Were you two sleeping or fornicating?!” Her voice was rising steadily and ended on a demand that was half shouted.

“MOM!” Goten yelled as he blushed at hearing his mother say “fornicating”. Unfortunately with his lack of a poker face his mom caught on to his lack of a denial. He grabbed a throw pillow in which to hide his face.

“You’ve been having premarital sex!” ChiChi roared.

“I’m too young to get married! I’m only 17!” Goten cried, muffled by the pillow.

“Then you’re too young to have sex!” ChiChi retorted before she let out a big sigh. “Honestly, Goten, I don’t know what has gotten into you. A secret relationship with Trunks! But what about that girl you’ve been taking on those virtual dates, I hope you haven’t been two timing her!” ChiChi’s voice rose again as she came to the thought.

“What no!” Goten hastily responded, lifting his head out of the pillow, “Inka is just a friend and it was an excuse so you’d leave us alone when I wanted to do drawing streams with her instead of trying to make me do more chores.” But admitting to this didn’t make the situation better.

“Oh, so it’s not just been lies of omission, you’ve been lying directly to my face. Where did I go wrong, to have a son who lies to his mother.” ChiChi’s voice was full of despair and Goten knew she was going to make a big deal out of this but he still wasn’t ready for hearing this.

But Goten was not about to be pulled into her attempts to make him feel guilty. He kept his gaze locked onto the pillow as he responded. “How could I tell you? You’re the one who was always telling me I needed to find a good rich girl to settle down with. How was I supposed to answer that? That I’m not going to find any girls I like because I’m gay?” He braced himself for her response.

ChiChi sighed and then pulled him into a hug. “I wish you would have told me sooner, so I wasn’t badgering you about that this whole time about dating those girls. All this time I could have been looking at eligible boys for you. I only want what’s best for you and that’s what I thought you wanted. Gohan was so happy when he found Videl-”

“I’m not like Gohan! I’m my own person. And I don’t want someone like Videl, I love Trunks.”

“Well now, let’s talk about Trunks,” Goten saw ChiChi cross her arms out of the corner of his eye. “This whole time that he’s been with you he’s been pretending to be an eligible bachelor, don’t think I haven’t noticed those tabloids calling him a hot commodity. You’ve been letting him do all that while he keeps your relationship hidden like it’s some illicit fling that he has no respect for. And what about all those potential suitors I know Bulma has been vetting, what will she say when she hears all that effort has gone to waste?”

“That’s her problem. I know Trunks has been turning down any dates she tried to set up.” More like ranted to Goten about it on more than one occasion, there was a reason Trunks leaned so hard into his ostentatious adoration with his hoverbike. “Is it really so bad that we’re together?”

“No, of course not.” ChiChi hastened to add. “It’s not that Trunks isn’t very suitable, why Westropolis magazine declared him one of the world’s most eligible bachelors after he turned 18, with that Briefs fortune behind him. And not to mention how close you both have been growing up, you would have had a natural advantage over anyone else interested in him. But I would have liked to have known this was going on and not  _ having you lie to me _ .”

“You’re just saying that because you would have wanted to plan the whole thing out with Bulma.” Goten protested. “Of course we couldn’t tell you.”

“Naturally I would want to talk about it with Bulma, our boys getting together would mean our families would be joined. There would be so much to plan and discuss, not to mention the wedding-” Oh no, she was starting to ramp up and he could see her mind being filled with plans already.

“See! This is what I’m talking about! Why are you worried about a wedding already? We’re too young for anything like that.” Besides, Goten wasn’t even sure that was something that would be happening any more. He’d never doubted his relationship with Trunks before now, but after that fight, after hearing Trunks say how he  _ hated _ Goten, were they even really still going to be together?

“Besides, I don’t think you have to worry about any wedding at all. Trunks and I had a big fight today and I think we might have broken up.” It was the first time he admitted it aloud and it set sourly in his stomach, the idea that he and Trunks might not still be together was a bleak one.

“Well what on Earth happened?” ChiChi demanded. “You boys have always been so close, and that’s even before you got together. What made you break up?”

Goten sighed, “We wanted different things. I thought we were black and he apparently thought we were red and now everything is all confused and I don’t even know if we’re still together. He said he hated me, and he really meant it and now I don’t know what to do.” Goten ran his hands through his hair before burying his face back in the pillow. “I bet you wish you had a normal son who didn’t have problems like this.”

He felt his mother’s arms envelop him into another hug.

“Not a chance, I love my special little boys, even if our family was never quite how I imagined it would turn out. I know things must be difficult for you in ways I can’t fathom, having to deal with your father’s heritage and all that comes from that. But you can always talk with me, you don’t have to keep any part of your life a secret because you think I won’t accept you. I’ve come to terms with accepting all manner of strange things I never once imagined ever occurring.”

She sat back on the couch and took Goten’s hands in hers so he was no longer clutching the pillow like a lifeline. “But let’s talk about you and Trunks. So you feel black emotions towards him?”

“Yeah. I know it must be hard for you to wrap your head around.”

“Don’t be so sure.” Goten looked up at her as she continued. “I’ve learned a thing or two about how it works over the years. I may not be a Saiyan but I’m married to one who is an open book with regards to what he’s feeling. And I’ve seen enough to get a pretty good idea about just how his and Vegeta’s relationship works. How they really are and not whatever Vegeta says about it being built on a mutual hate, that’s not remotely what your father feels.”

“Then what does Dad feel?”

“It’s a type of affection, one built on their mutual obsession with fighting and trying to compete against the other, sure. But he cares a lot for Vegeta, and it’s different and deeper than any of his friendships.”

“You make it all sound so simple.” Goten had spent ages wrapping his head around realizing there was a name for his feelings for Trunks when he finally got a full explanation about it from Vegeta.

“I suppose that is how I see it now.” ChiChi sighed. “You know when all this first started I was pretty unsure about the whole thing. It started when Bulma called me up for a spa day and I should have known it was going to lead to a big discussion. It was her go to tactic when she wanted to tell me what trouble you boys had gotten into when you were growing up.

“Well this time she laid out for me a conversation she’d had between her and Vegeta, how there was a Saiyan term that would just completely explain why he was interested in my husband. At first I didn’t understand the concept at all, a romance built on this alleged hatred and rivalry. But the more I thought about it the more I could see that maybe Goku would respond to something like that.

“I remembered how he always would light up when he was able to interact with Vegeta, always smiling no matter how much Vegeta refused to return it. How sometimes he would act up just to needle him, like he was trying to incite Vegeta to yell at him. Goku may not be the brightest but he plays up acting like a fool when he’s around Vegeta to bother him. And Goku has always been on the lookout for his next big fight but that never quite matches how he lights up when he realizes he was going to push Vegeta into another spar. 

“It was then I realized that this wasn’t going to go away and that your father would eventually find out, there was no way this would stay a secret forever. Goku can be a bit simplistic about things sometimes. If he’s oblivious to something he may never pick up on it. But if brought to his attention, which it inventively would be, he can fixate on it.

“Knowing how your father already was with Vegeta I knew if he ever heard about this kismesis thing then the moment that thought entered his head it would lodge itself in and remain there and nothing I could do would remove it.”

She gazed off to the far side of the room for a moment.

“So I had to ask myself if I could be okay with it, my husband having this bizarre alien relationship with Vegeta that included letting my husband sleep with someone else. It’s not how a choice I thought I’d ever have to make in my marriage. Then again a lot of things in my life didn’t turn out how I expected them to.

“But I eventually settled on Bulma’s insistence that this hypothetical relationship wouldn’t interfere with what your father and I had. It was something different, an addition not a subtraction. To Saiyans red and black were two separate emotions and two separate relationships.

“So after some discussions where we laid out some rules I gave my blessing. And I haven’t regretted that choice because I see how happy Goku is now, not that he wasn’t always cheerful but it’s like he found something that had been missing. And at least Vegeta makes the effort to keep Goku reigned in for the most part.

“It’s not that bad, I’ve come to terms with seeing marks left on my husband that weren’t made by me, not that I could leave a mark like that on Goku. But I’m only so accepting of it because while I love your father, I know he loves me. And nothing about this whole kismesis thing was going to change that.”

Goten digested his mother’s speech in silence for a few minutes before he finally spoke up. “I guess I just always thought Trunks and I were on the same page, but then I found out today that I was wrong. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about him being red for me, that is if he even still feels that way. He told me he hated me today.”

“Isn’t that what you wanted if you were black for him?”

“Not like that. Not with how  _ angry _ he was about it, or how much he was pushing us in our fight. He went Super Saiyan then Super Saiyan 2 and forced me to do the same to keep up. He said he was doing what I wanted, but I didn’t want anything like that.”

“Well it sounds like the two of you should have a talk about what exactly it is that you both want.”

“I don’t think I want to talk with Trunks for a while. I saw how angry and how hurt he was back there. Talking to him is only going to make it worse.” And it might confirm Goten’s fears that they were over.

“Worse than sitting around wondering if you two are even still together? Goten, you shouldn’t put off a conversation that you boys are going to need to have. What are you going to do, just never talk with Trunks again? You two are best friends and are communicating every day. Eventually you’re both going to need to hash this whole thing out.”

“Well I’m not going to be the one to make the first move, I’ll let him message me when he’s ready.”

ChiChi sighed, “Alright, if that’s the choice you want to make but I think you’re making a mistake.”

~

The next day Goten received no messages from Trunks, which hadn’t happened in literally years, but he did get one from Marron.

[Marron] Okay what was that all about yesterday? I felt that all the way in Satan City. I thought Vegeta and Goku were going at it with the amount of ki being thrown off. But then I realized it felt more like yours and Trunks’s ki, only louder. I’m asking you instead of him because you’re less likely to blow me off about it.

Goten thought about what he wanted to say. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to open up to Marron. She’d known they were together on the road trip and hadn’t made a big deal about it, acting like it was natural and normal. Plus she’d kept it a secret when they told her to. Sure, talking to Gohan and his mother had been helpful when he was coming down off of the fight, but maybe someone who wasn’t talking about it out of familial obligations might help.

[Goten] We had a fight about our relationship and it bled over into an actual fight.

[Marron] Oh, have you guys made up yet?

[Goten] No, we’re still fighting.

[Marron] What? You guys were all over each other last time I saw you, which was like a week ago. What was the fight about?

[Goten] Apparently Trunks was red for me this whole time.

[Marron] And this is new information?

[Goten] It was to me, I thought we were both black.

[Marron] Well huh.

He could see her typing but it was a bit before she responded back.

[Marron] Well I can see where that would lead to an argument but not seeing why that meant you guys had to burn through all that ki over it.

[Goten] Trunks said if we were doing kismesis he was going to take it seriously.

[Goten] Then he said he hated me.

[Marron] And that was bad? You wouldn’t be this upset if he was returning the black sentiments like you wanted.

[Goten] He was really angry with me when he said it. Like he  _ meant _ it.

[Marron] Okay. Are you going to talk with Trunks about it?

[Goten] I wish everyone would stop telling me to do that. Trunks isn’t going to want to talk with me right now. I have to wait till he’s done with his tantrum. He can reach out to me when he wants to talk.

And that was how it was for the next several days. Trunks hadn’t messaged goten at all and it was the longest time they hadn’t been in some sort of contact with each other in years. But Goten meant it and he wasn’t going to be the first to fold when it was Trunks who needed to get over it. Instead he spent a lot of the time drawing and talking with Marron. He tried talking with Inka some, but beyond an explanation that he and Trunks were having a fight there wasn’t much that he could vent to her about.

Telling her that they were fighting about being red and black would have just left her confused and similarly she had no frame of reference for what it meant that a simple spar had turned into both of them going Super Saiyan 2.

Goten didn’t know what he was supposed to feel but every day that the silence continued he wondered if maybe they had broken up for real. Trunks was always the type to overcorrect when he realized he’d messed up but if he wasn’t approaching Goten maybe he thought Goten had been the one who needed to apologize?

But what did Goten have to apologize for? It wasn’t his fault that Trunks had been getting different signals for their relationship and thought of them as red. Apologizing would mean saying that Goten was wrong and he didn’t feel like he should do that.

All of this was going through his head as he fell into a habit of texting Marron a lot over the next week.

[Goten] He still hasn’t messaged me yet.

[Marron] And yet neither have you. And so the both of you end up bitching to me about how you guys miss each other but neither of you have the balls to do anything about it.

[Goten] Trunks has been talking to you?

[Marron] Only every freaking day.

[Goten] About what?

[Marron] Oh no you don’t. I don’t tell him what you talk to me about and I’m not telling you any specifics beyond he’s being as much of a bitch baby about this whole thing as you are. Seriously you’re both miserable right now. Talk. To. Each. Other.

[Goten] It’s not that simple! I don’t want to talk to him now if it just means we’re going to break up. 

[Marron] You’re not going to break up.

[Goten] You don’t know that and it’s getting more and more likely every day that goes by. 

[Marron] Trust me. You too are too codependent to break up. You’re wrapped up in each other so much that I would say it’s kinda unhealthy if you guys didn’t seem to make it work as well as you did. 

[Goten] Well that’s the thing, being with Trunks was always so easy, I don’t know how to handle this big disagreement. I don’t know what we’re going to do about it. We’ve never really had a fight like this.

[Marron] Well you guys are going to have to do something. I’m this close to creating a group chat and dumping you both in it if I wasn’t convinced you’d both ignore the message. 

[Goten] You’d be right to think that. 

[Marron] What if I told you that I found something that should be really helpful in situations with red-black relationship issues. You and Trunks are coming over to my house this Saturday at 2PM so I can show you.

[Goten] Isn’t Trunks still grounded?

[Marron] Would you believe that when I texted Bulma and said I could help she was ecstatic? Apparently he’s been spending most of the time in her lab being an absolute pain to be around. She’ll let him come.

[Goten] What do you have?

[Marron] Well you should know Saiyans aren’t the only species that have kismesis or issues with it so other species have developed things to problem solve the incidents that kept cropping up. I got a hold of one of these books and I’ve been reading it. I think it might help the two of you navigate your feelings.

The next few days were spent flip-flopping between anxiety and anticipation. He didn’t know what he was going to say to Trunks when he first saw him again. The last time they’d gone this long without seeing each other had been when they were kids, ever since they’d been granted permission to fly across the Great Continent they had always been finding the time to hang out.

Goten arrived at Krillin’s residence in Satan City a little before 2, he always tried to be early, and he found the house empty except for Marron.

“Hey, where’s Krillin and No. 18?” Goten asked.

“Oh, I told them I needed the house to myself for something important and I wanted privacy,” Marron explained. “Besides, they’re having a fun time. There’s a vineyard that has a weekly wine tasting that they’ve been wanting to go to for a while.” She shrugged her shoulders, not at all put out that her parents liked to go travel to places without her.

“Let’s do this in the kitchen, I made a whole cake for you guys and I can make some tea when Trunks gets here.”

They walked into the kitchen that was more modern than the one in Goten’s house but not nearly as high-tech as Capsule Corp. It was homey and had lots of pictures of animals on the walls. There was the promised cake in the middle of the table and with three places set, one at the end of the table and the other two facing each other. Goten could probably guess which seats she was going to have him and Trunks take.

“So what is this thing that you found?” he asked, curious in spite of himself. He hadn’t wanted to put much hope into this unknown thing fixing the mess he was currently in, but it had been hard to resist wondering about what could actually do anything.

“I’ll explain it when Trunks gets here but I found it on my Godpad.” Marron set the Godpad she’d been holding down in front of the seat at the head of the table and sat down. “But really today is going to be firstly about getting you guys talking. I don’t care why you guys have been putting it off but you need to fix this and the only way you’re going to get there is to talk.”

Goten sighed and sat down in one of the empty chairs and asked for a slice of cake. Marron cut him a large slice of the upside down apple cake and he started in on it. 

They made small talk till they both sensed Trunks landing in the front yard. “I’ll go get him, you stay here,” Marron instructed.

Goten focused all his attention on trying to pick up their conversation on the other side of the wall.

“Okay, okay, I’m here. Let’s get this over with,” Trunks said and Goten nearly wanted to roll his eyes at the attitude in his voice.

Marron heard it too. “You sure that’s how you want to be approaching this?”

“Yeah. You think I want to be here? My mom made me come by threatening to extend my grounding, which doesn’t even make sense. She wants me grounded then she wants me out of the house?”

Marron let out a very loud sigh. “And here I was hoping you’d come because you actually wanted to solve your problems. Well Goten is inside and the two of you are going to deal with your shit even if I have to physically hold your hands while you do it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Trunks followed her inside as she led him to the kitchen. Trunks had to have known Goten was in the room because of his ki but when their eyes met he still jerked his gaze away. Goten looked down at his half finished cake slice, he wasn’t feeling so hungry all of a sudden.

He hadn’t really realized how much he’d missed Trunks till he saw him again, missed talking with him or seeing him but more than that he missed the easy flow of their relationship that they’d always had. 

He looked back up again through his bangs and saw that Trunks was still stubbornly staring at a picture of a giraffe that was on the wall.

Marron clapped her hands together. “You guys done trying to avoid each other’s eyes? Let’s actually try to get something productive done here.”

Marron started putting water in an electric kettle as she began to talk even while her back was still turned. “Okay, so the thing I have is called an auspistice manual, courtesy divine web. It’s from Universe 13 which had this alien species that also had kismesis and it’s what they consulted if they ever had a kismesis relationship that was on the rocks.”

“What does this manual say?” Goten didn’t know what an auspistice was or if something written about an entirely different alien species would really apply to him.

Marron turned around, having finished turning on the kettle. “Basically about how to talk about things but with a facilitator on hand, that’s the auspistice, to make sure things go well. Someone who can help you handle any toxic issues of a relationship if you have any and enforce boundaries if necessary.

“It’s that just a relationship counselor?” Trunks huffed.

“Yeah, but auspistice is a bit more specialized. Think about how complicated a kismesis relationship can be if the people are having problems. If it’s built on hating each other than any arguments or problems could lead to it getting unhealthy and damaging fast. So it’s the auspistice who helps manage that. And besides this manual has entire sections on how to deal with relationships that vacillate between red and black so I think it will probably be pretty helpful in your case.” Marron folded her arms as she looked at them both with a challenging look, daring them to both take her up on it. 

Goten was willing to give it a shot, certainly couldn’t really hurt more than the past week had been not being able to talk with Trunks. Trunks was less amiable. 

“So you want us to just talk about all our problems in front of you because you’re some emotional voyeur?”

Marron rolled her eyes, “Well ignoring it wasn’t helping, your mom says you’ve been miserable to be around these past few days, let’s try this.”

“Maybe I don’t need you or my mom telling me how to deal with myself.”

“Look, you guys are going to have to talk about this eventually, might as well do it now.”

“Trunks,” Goten said, “just sit down and do this.”

Trunks turned towards the table and saw how serious Goten’s face was. “Fine,” he grunted and went and took the chair across from Goten. Marron offered him some cake but he waved her off saying he wasn’t hungry, which means he must have really been upset.

Marron steepled her fingers, “Okay so as far as I was aware the both of you were dating and happy until you started to disagree on if you were red or black. Let’s start there. Trunks, do you want to go first.”

“Yeah, it’s total bullshit,” Trunks opened with an angry dismissal directed straight at Goten. “We were nothing like kismesis, and it’s stupid to think about ourselves like that. Okay, sure we sparred a lot but that doesn’t make us black. We were doing just fine and suddenly Goten had to uproot everything with saying he’s suddenly black for me.”

“There wasn’t anything sudden about it, I’ve always felt this way.” Goten interrupted.

“No you haven’t!” Trunks insisted. “You wouldn’t have been all slow and careful when we got together if you were black. You would have been meaner and more aggressive or something. I don’t know. I read up on how kismesis get together, we were nothing like that.”

Goten felt his voice rising. “Don’t try to dictate how I feel, I know what I feel! You’re always trying to do this, control the situation and you assume that I’m always going to go along with it, and get upset when things aren’t what you want.”

“Well then I don’t understand it!” Trunks responded back, even louder. “How can you look at us and declare it black, Goten you’re my soulmate! Don’t you get that? I thought you loved me.” He finished off more quietly and with uncertainty and Goten wanted to smack him for the obvious ploy to get Goten to reassure him, mostly because it was working.

“Of course I love you.” Goten watched as Trunks seemed pleased by the assurance. “But I can still hate you at the same time. And I know what I feel because I’ve felt this way for a while now. It’s what I’ve always called the pull I have to you, and maybe you want to call it ‘soulmates’ but I’ve felt that pull since I was a kid.”

Trunks looked like he was about to respond but Marron interrupted him. “Well Goten why don’t you explain why you’re calling your relationship black then?”

Goten shrugged, not really sure how to explain something that had seemed so natural to him. “Because it seemed like the best term? It’s not just about the sparring, it’s about how everything is always a competition for us. How even when we’re hanging out we’re bickering and I can never just settle when you’re around because I’m always aware of you and what trouble you could cause, but I like it. I like the fact that you drive me crazy and I’ve learned how to put up with how impossible you are about things.”

“But you seemed to take issue when Trunks returned your sentiments?” Marron prodded.

“That was different,” Goten tried to explain, “it’s not like I feel real animosity towards him, not like how it was back at the fight. Trunks, do you really hate me?” Goten directed his gaze towards Trunks who immediately turned to avoid his eyes.

“Okay, maybe I regret saying that. I was just really angry and wanted to hurt you,” Trunks said in a rush, his nonchalance for once broken by how flustered he sounded. “I don’t want to be black at all, that’s not how I think of you. Sure we spar a lot, but that’s just for fun. It’s not real kismesis shit. Maybe this is what bothers my dad so much about us sparring, we aren’t doing it to try and get stronger, we’re doing it because we are just having fun. At least that’s what I thought.”

“Yeah of course it’s fun, that’s why I like it so much. But that’s because it’s you that I’m facing off against. I hate it when my dad tries to get me to spar with him because I hate doing it with him. He lives for fighting and doesn’t get why I really only enjoy it with you.”

“Okay, that’s something to consider,” said Marron. “Saiyan kismesis put a lot of emphasis on fighting against each other but to them it was more a way of life not a hobby. You guys don’t take it that seriously, and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, gods know we have enough Saiyans that are fixated on fighting in your fathers. But you guys do view fighting differently than a traditional Saiyan.”

“Dad says it’s our Earthling blood that dulls our drive to fight,” said Trunks.

“That may be part of it,” Marron said consideringly. “Okay so where we’re at is the both of you are in love, and even consider yourselves soulmates. But the problem is that Goten is defining it as black while Trunks sees it as red.”

She turned down to the Godpad and flicked her hand across the screen as she flipped through the pages on the book.

“It’s certainly an unusual form of red-black issues, mainly because you guys had seemed to be getting along so well before this whole problem of labeling what you were came up. Normally when you have vacillation in a relationship it involves two people or one person constantly trying to flip between the two and unable to make a decision. Issues include emotional volatility, outbursts of anger, and frequent arguments over the state of your relationship. You guys don’t have most of those problems, you’re getting hung up on definitions.”

She looked up from the Godpad, “Let’s start there then, what would be so bad about Goten calling the two of you kismesis and Trunks instead calling you guys mates?”

“Because how can I go on knowing that Goten hates me?” said Trunks. “Even if he says it’s only a part of it I don’t want to go around knowing he feels that way.”

Goten wasn’t sure where Trunks got off finding fault with his feelings, Goten had been feeling this way for a while and Trunks had seemed fine with it back before they’d had their fight. Trunks kept fixating on the idea that black feelings were a bad thing and Goten didn’t see it that way at all. 

“Well I don’t want to be red,” Goten countered, “it would be dull and boring and I’d think we’d just get on each other’s nerves if we tried to be a normal couple.”

Trunks let out a loud huff of air like he was going to argue but Marron cut him off by holding up a hand to him. Instead her gaze was fixed on Goten.

“Well Goten, to be frank, your feelings aren’t that black. Sure they have some elements and maybe that’s how you interpret them, but you’re not thinking of Trunks like a real kismesis. It’s not how Saiyans or this Universe 13 species thought of it. Can I ask what are you even basing it upon?

“I mean our dads-” Goten didn’t like being on the defensive here, but he knew what he saw between their dads and he and Trunks were more like that then they were like his parents. 

“Don’t use Goku and Vegeta as an example,” Marron interrupted, waving one of her hands for emphasis “for well anything really but especially not this. They are their own thing with their own peculiarities which I think makes sense to the both of them. But I can tell you, as someone who has read up on the matter, you guys aren’t black, at least not like how it’s traditionally defined. You guys might have some  _ black tendencies.  _ But I don’t think you can wholly define yourselves that way.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying.” Trunks smacked the table.

Marron continued ignoring his outburst, “At the same time you guys might very well be having some elements of it in your interactions. I’m not saying you’re red or black, more let’s go with a grayish red. Because you’re both mixing elements of the different dynamics freely. And that’s not a bad thing, you guys do you, but you maybe need to realize that you’re breaking a lot of rules and traditions by being so. Which, again, is fine, it just means maybe you guys shouldn’t get too caught up on terms.”

She turned her attention back to addressing the both of them. “You both seemed pretty content this summer on our trip. Why can’t you continue on that path? Having spars and fights but still being together for all that red stuff?”

“But don’t the lines exist for a reason?” Goten asked. “Raditz and Vegeta both said it was bad to mix red and black.” He had remembered how much scorn Raditz had put into the thought of mixing the two.

“Well he’s not exactly wrong,” Marron said carefully. “There is a lot of stuff in here about the problems that happen when you mix the two and how it should be avoided. But you guys aren’t falling into most of the traps. You guys aren’t vacillating between the two wildly, you’re both got some sort of stable interaction worked out. There have never been an Earthling Saiyan hybrids before so maybe the old rules don’t apply to your situation. You guys are your own thing and you can just do what works for you. How about instead of arguing about terms you guys map out how you’d like to move forward with your relationship. Talk about what you do want.”

They were both silent for a moment, letting Marron’s words settle before Trunks broke the silence. “I want Goten to be fine going out on dates with me. Actual dates, where we go out and do stuff.”

Goten felt himself making a face at the thought, and Trunks must have seen his apprehension.

“Oh, come on, we hang out all the time it won’t be that different from that. It will be us together only as an official couple.” Trunks thought for a moment before continuing. “Oh, and another thing I want to be able to call you my boyfriend without you freaking out. We don’t have to worry about keeping it a secret any longer, my parents both know and there is no way my mom will be able to keep that quiet, she’ll absolutely tell your mom and probably everyone else if given half the chance.”

That was true, Goten couldn’t see Bulma keeping such news to herself and besides Goten’s family knew and it hadn’t been as bad as he had feared.

“My parents know already too,” Goten admitted.

“See, we can be out in the open about us being together,” said Trunks.

Goten thought about it. Sure, there was no way to go back to how they had been when they kept everything between themselves. Their friends knew, their families knew, and going forward other people were probably going to know about it. Goten thought about what it would mean being official boyfriends with Trunks and what that would entail. Probably some publicity from nosy publications wanting a story, but he could handle that, especially because he knew Trunks would take their privacy seriously. What he couldn’t handle would be their relationship going soft.

“Okay, well I don’t want you to start holding back with me if we’re doing this. I don’t want you to start opening doors for me or whatever things good couples are supposed to be doing.” Goten admittedly had a bit of a limited understanding of what went into a normal relationship. “I still want you to see me as a rival, someone to train with and against. I don’t want to beat you at something, be it sparring or a video game or whatever, and then have to deal with the thought that you let me win just because we’re dating now.”

“Is that really what you’re focusing on?” Trunks asked incredulously. 

“Kind of, yeah. I like the rapport we have. And I don’t want to ruin it by getting all mushy or whatever regular couples do. I like that you make things a challenge when it’s just us. I want to keep things as they are, even if we’re officially going to be dating and calling each other boyfriends after this.” Goten thought about it a minute before adding, “We haven’t talked about it in a while but I wanted to know if we were still on the same page about college. You know I decided on South City University because of their arts program and because it’s a ways off from home. I know you said it’s engineering department was decent but nowhere near first rate, do you still mean it about going there?”

“Of course, I’ve already submitted my acceptance to South U,” Trunks huffed. “Besides, it doesn’t matter what sort of program they have for me, it’s got the best thing I could possibly want in a school, it’s got you. We can get an apartment near campus together and spend time in the campus gym or fly back to Capsule Corp if we’re really in need of the gravity chamber. I want to plan a future with you Goten, even if we’re only focusing on the next few years right now, I want us to be something that lasts beyond that.”

“I want that too.” Goten felt himself beginning to smile as he thought about the picture Trunks just painted for him. The two of them going to college together, sharing an apartment, and still keeping up with their regular sparring. Trunks began to smile back in response and that only made Goten’s smile grow.

“Oh thank fuck,” Marron laid crossed her arms on the table and laid her head down on them. “Please, please,  _ please, _ tell me it’s finally over and you two are back together and aren’t going to be whining to me for the rest of my days about your stupid relationship issues because you were both too scared to talk about it like adults.”

“Oh shut up, it wasn’t that bad.” Trunks rolled his eyes at her dramatics.

“I’ll be the judge of how bad it was,” Marron responded crossly. “For two alleged adults you were both acting like giant children. I’m just glad it’s finally over. Also glad that I no longer have to keep the whole thing a secret. I’ve been dying to tell my parents about your pregnancy scare and I couldn’t do it while you two were still in the closet.” She brightened up.

“You’re that eager to tell your parents that we’re together?” Goten asked warily. 

“It was the funniest thing that happened all summer and was absolutely amazing to witness. Of course I’m going to share just how insane your weird Saiyan lives have gotten, it would be cruel of me to withhold that joy from anyone.”

Trunks sighed. “Well Mom is probably going to tell Krillin at some point on her own. Now that we’re back together I can’t see her keeping that to herself for long. She’s such a gossip.” 

Oh right. Now Goten was going to have to be around a Bulma who was going to be sure to tease him about their relationship now. He was not looking forward to that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God this chapter took me a while to work on, longer than I had hoped. I had four conversations that I needed to make work. Took me a few tries till I was satisfied. On top of that I think my DBZ obsession is winding down into a lull period, as what happens with most of my fandoms I go through periods of highs and lows, blame the ADHD. I do plan to finish this fic but I’m not going to feel the drive to write that has been fueling me for a while.
> 
> Yes I’m talking about Goku and Vegeta again, even though this is a fic about Trunks and Goten and their story I can’t resist having side pairing of domestic and established kismesis between the two. And part of that is showing how ChiChi and Bulma tolerate their poly setup. What can I say, I love writing complex relationships. 
> 
> I hope this was a satisfying conclusion to the red/black stuff I’d been building up in the fic. It might seem a little easy that the solution was just to talk it out but I wanted to make it clear that they were both very much in love but interpreting it differently. They’re just two Saiyan-Earthling hybrid boys who are suffering through their teenage years and trying to work out their strange relationship which makes sense to them without everyone else imposing labels and the like on them.
> 
> There is one chapter left and that’s mostly going to be an epilogue and will be shorter than my usual 10k. (Hey I hit 14.6k this chapter!) See Bulma finally getting to throw her party about her son being in a relationship and the conclusion of the Raditz plotline. I don't know when it's going to be posted because school is starting up again for me now.


End file.
